PRNewswire - December 1, 2004

NUTLEY, N.J., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 8,000 Roche employees from 33 countries and 60 sites collectively walked nearly 25,000 miles to raise funds today for local and international AIDS organizations. Funds raised by employee sponsorships will be matched in kind by Roche as part of the company's annual Global Employee AIDS Walk in observance of World AIDS Day.

Roche employees from the company's pharmaceuticals and diagnostics divisions, Nutley, N.J., Indianapolis, Ind., Branchburg, N.J., Florence, S.C., Boulder, Colo., Palo Alto, Calif. and Pleasanton, Calif., will donate a percentage of the funds raised in the Global Employee AIDS Walk to local HIV/AIDS organizations that meet local needs in their communities. The remaining portion will be used to provide shelter, food, clean water and education to children orphaned by AIDS in Malawi, Africa, which ranks as the 12th highest population living with HIV/AIDS in the world -- immediately behind the United States, according to The World FactBook.

According to UNAIDS, an estimated 37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children worldwide are living with AIDS in 2004, the highest level ever. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV/AIDS epidemic has hit the hardest, 75% of 15- to-24-year-old women are infected with HIV. In the United States, 40,000 people are infected with HIV every year and more than half are African Americans and women. African American women make up 72% of all new HIV diagnoses in women.

"As a major player in the HIV arena, we strive to be on the forefront of efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the local and international level," said George Abercrombie, president and CEO of Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., the company's U.S. prescription pharmaceuticals division. "By contributing to charities locally in the U.S. and in Malawi, Roche employees can feel proud that their efforts are making a truly global impact toward improving the lives of those affected by the disease."

Roche's pilot Global Employee AIDS Walk in 2003 involved more than 1,300 employees at three sites in the United States and Switzerland and raised more than a quarter of a million dollars. To date, the money raised for Malawi in 2003 has been used, in part, to purchase essential items, such as maize meal to feed the children and a borehole for clean water. Additional funds have been invested in building and renovating local facilities and providing educational equipment, such as sewing machines, textbooks and musical instruments. Cam Greig and Moreen Williams, both Roche U.S. employees, traveled as ambassadors to Malawi in May 2003. While in Malawi, Cam and Moreen visited with the orphans who are the beneficiaries of the funds they and hundreds of other Roche employees raised.

"I can't believe anyone wouldn't be moved by such an experience and would not want to help," said Moreen Williams, a Roche employee who witnessed the impact HIV/AIDS has had in the country during a visit to Malawi. "The main lesson I learned is that anything and everything can help in improving the lives of the orphaned children. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to contribute to such an important cause."

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading innovation-driven healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is one of the world's leaders in diagnostics, the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals for cancer, as well as a leader in virology and transplantation. As a supplier of products and services for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries, including approximately 15,000 in the United States.

Roche's U.S. operations comprise more than a dozen sites located in California, Colorado, Indiana, South Carolina and New Jersey, as well as in Puerto Rico. The Group has alliances and research and development agreements with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche's Pharmaceuticals Division offers a portfolio of leading medicines in therapeutic areas including cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, transplantation, dermatology and influenza. Roche's Diagnostics Division supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories world-wide. For further information, please visit our websites (Global: http://www.roche.com and U.S.: http://www.roche.us)

Roche Policies in Least Developed Countries

No patents for any of Roche medicines -- across all disease areas -- will be filed in the world's Least Developed Countries (LDCs), as defined by the UN. Roche will not file patents on new HIV/AIDS medicines in Least Developed Countries or sub-Saharan Africa. Roche will not take action in these countries against the sale or manufacture of generic versions of HIV medicines for which Roche still holds patents. Generic versions of such HIV medicines can therefore be produced in LDCs and sub-Saharan Africa without the need for a voluntary or compulsory license.

Roche makes its HIV protease inhibitors -- Invirase (saquinavir) and Viracept (nelfinavir) available at no profit prices for direct supplies from Roche Basel to LDCs and sub-Saharan Africa.

Roche no profit pricing and patent policies apply to approximately two thirds of all people living with HIV/AIDS in the world.

Through its AmpliCare program Roche has been supplying HIV viral load tests at the lowest possible price to sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, and countries defined by the United Nation as 'least developed'. AmpliCare focuses on the complete continuum of care -- from testing to monitoring to education - and works to optimize efforts on a region-by-region basis. It includes flexible pricing and support of major government and private programs. Capping it off is an education program to ensure that local doctors and nurses are fully informed on the latest advances in HIV/ AIDS care.

Roche in HIV

Roche is at the forefront of efforts to combat HIV infection and AIDS, committed for 15 years to groundbreaking research and development of new drugs and diagnostic technology. The objective is to provide tailored treatment solutions and an improved standard of care worldwide for people living with HIV.

For further information:

http://www.roche-hiv.com

http://www.roche.com/home/sustain/sus_med.htm

http://www.pacf.org/aids.html

http://www.roche-diagnostics.us

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are legally protected.

SOURCE Roche

Web Site: http://www.roche.com

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