PLEASANTON, Calif., April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche Molecular Diagnostics (RMD) today announced the opening of its new research facility at the company’s global headquarters in Pleasanton, California. The building represents the final phase of consolidation of RMD’s West Coast operations into one campus in Pleasanton which now houses close to 500 employees, including 120 members of RMD’s research teams previously located in Alameda. RMD is a world-leading molecular diagnostics company, developing diagnostics designed to provide information allowing healthcare providers to select and monitor patient response to therapy or identify molecular characteristics of a disease. RMD’s products also help to ensure the safety of blood and blood products before they are used for medical procedures by using its approved systems to screen donations.
RMD is a world-leading molecular diagnostics company, developing diagnostics that provide information to select the best therapy for a particular patient by enabling physicians to monitor response to treatment or identify molecular characteristics of a disease. RMD also supports the safety of the blood supply by using our approved systems to screen donors.
The research building encompasses more than 135,000 square feet on RMD’s 33.4 acre campus in the Hacienda Business Park. Designed by a local firm, DES Architects + Engineers under the leadership of Craig Ivancovich, architect and principal, it was then built by another local company, DPR Construction. The building and its surroundings incorporate numerous features designed to ensure successful green building status, construction and operation, and further demonstrate Roche’s ongoing commitment to sustained development and environmental efficiency throughout its global operations. Going forward, RMD is working to implement final operational improvements that will enable the new facility to qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) “green building” certification from the US Green Building Council.
“In designing the new building, it was important to us to minimize our environmental footprint while designing a functional space that could support core research functions and state-of-the-art molecular biology research laboratories,” said Daniel O’Day, President and CEO. “With the development of this new building, we have achieved these goals while creating an optimal space for our employees to focus on their ongoing contributions to improving healthcare for people around the world.”
About RMD
Headquartered in Pleasanton, California, Roche Molecular Diagnostics is the world leader in molecular in vitro diagnostics. A business area of Roche (Basel, Switzerland), RMD develops and manufactures innovative tests based on its Nobel Prize winning polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. PCR is the technology that underlies a new generation of medical diagnostics.
RMD supplies a wide array of innovative medical diagnostic products, services, and technologies to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories worldwide. Our marketed diagnostic tests and automated instrument platforms, and those now in development, are focused on blood screening, virology, microbiology, genomics and oncology, and sexually transmitted diseases. For a complete list of our diagnostics and blood screening products, please visit our website at http://molecular.roche.com
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world’s biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, and is a market leader in virology. It is also active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory and metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2007 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totaled 36.8 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 9.3 billion francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D in 2007. Worldwide, the Group employs about 79,000 people. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.roche.com.
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For further information please contact:
Amy Berry Roche Molecular Diagnostics Communications Phone: 925-730-8028 email: amy.berry@contractors.roche.com
Source: Roche Molecular Diagnostics
