Annual Report 2002 - Roche

Unparalleled product pipeline
Near Patient Testing 9
All business areas expected to contribute
major innovations in the next five years
and its tests for hepatitis B and C and
sexually transmitted diseases delivered
especially robust growth.
The gains in this business area reflect
strong demand for products based
on the highly sensitive polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) technique. Using
PCR technology, it is possible to copy
specific segments of genetic material
millions of times over, including even
the tiniest fragments of bacterial or
viral DNA. PCR-based tests thus afford
a means of diagnosing a number of
conditions rapidly and very reliably.
Diabetes Care 22
Molecular Diagnostics 34
Applied Science 21
Centralized Diagnostics 20
Following successful launches in a
number of markets, a new version of
our highly sensitive Amplicor HIV-1
test was cleared in the United States
in mid-2002 for use in monitoring
patients’ responses to AIDS therapy.
In December 2002 the FDA also
granted regulatory clearance for our
Cobas AmpliScreen System, further
strengthening our position in the
blood screening sector; FDA approval
of Roche’s PCR-based hepatitis C and
HIV tests designed for use with the
system followed later the same month.
Roche tests are already used to screen
all donor blood in Japan, the Netherlands
and the United Kingdom.
A broad portfolio of human papillomavirus
(HPV) patents acquired from
the Institut Pasteur has given us a solid
basis for developing and marketing
products for the early detection of
HPV infection. HPV is the leading
cause of cervical cancer, a disease in
which early diagnosis and treatment
are critical for a positive prognosis.
Late in 2003 we plan to market an
HPV test that we expect will supplant
conventional Pap smear testing in the
mid term.
Agreements like the one signed with
the Institut Pasteur and another establishing
a strategic alliance with Qiagen
to develop and commercialise an integrated
nucleic acid diagnostics system
are carefully targeted at reinforcing
our leadership in molecular diagnostics.
In January 2003 Roche Diagnostics
and Affymetrix signed an agreement
that grants Roche non-exclusive rights
to Affymetrix’s array and instrument
technologies for up to 18 years. One
of the benefits of having access to
GeneChip technology is that it will
enable us to develop specific diagnostic
laboratory tests for a wide range
of diseases. We are confident that the
synergies between Affymetrix’s
GeneChip platform and Roche’s PCR
technology will establish new standards
in genetic testing, making it possible to
tailor therapies to individual patients’
profiles, and will further enhance
Roche Diagnostics’ attractiveness as
a partner for companies working on
the development of markers to guide
individualised therapies.
40 Diagnostics