ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS AND PREMIER EXPAND PARTNERSHIP WITH FOUR NEW CONTRACTS

Indianapolis, Indiana - July 12, 2002 - Today, Roche Diagnostics announced that it has executed four new contracts with Premier's group purchasing program to provide the healthcare alliance's members with products and services for blood glucose monitoring, chemistry, immunochemistry, and hematology. It is estimated that the combined expenditure by Premier hospitals in these four categories may amount to more than $650 million annually.

"These four new contracts enable us to continue a successful partnership that began in 1997," commented Bob Hamon, Vice President, Clinical Laboratory and Imaging Services at Premier. "Of particular importance is Roche's ability to cover the needs of our broad spectrum of members through a wide selection of configurations on common platforms, making it possible to standardize processes, compare results, and increase efficiency."


"Our relationship with Premier is based upon a solid understanding of Premier's corporate objectives and our commitment to meet the specific needs of member hospitals," commented Martin Madaus, President and CEO of Roche Diagnostics Corporation. "Our goal is to help Premier members reduce the total cost per reportable result by maximizing efficiency and productivity through technological innovations."

The blood glucose contract covers Roche's entire hospital blood glucose monitoring line, including the Accu-Chek Inform™ blood glucose monitoring system and DataCare™ connectivity solutions.

With the chemistry agreement, Premier members have a choice of MODULAR® Systems and COBAS Integra® platforms, as well as Task Targeted™ Automation and pre-analytical automation on MODULAR Systems. The immunochemistry agreement covers the entire Elecsys® family, including the MODULAR ANALYTICS E170 Module, Elecsys 2010 System, and Elecsys 1010 System. The award of both chemistry and immunochemistry to Roche Diagnostics is particularly significant in light of recent trends for laboratories to integrate chemistry and immunochemistry within a single work area to maximize productivity and efficiency. Through Roche Diagnostics, Premier members will be able to develop custom solutions for an integrated chemistry and immunochemistry system with the flexibility to select the platforms and the approach to integration that best meet each laboratory's needs.

The hematology contract gives Premier members access to the Sysmex hematology product line. The Sysmex XE-2100™ hematology analyzer, for example, offers more diagnostic power through a combination of state-of-the-art fluorescent flow cytometry and cell counting technologies.

"We are gratified by the Premier members' high level of satisfaction with Roche Diagnostics' products and services, as evidenced by the average annual double-digit growth in purchases," added Tiffany Olson, Vice President, Corporate Accounts at Roche Diagnostics Corporation. "We look forward to continuing our successful partnership."

The blood glucose contract commences on July 1, 2002, and ends on September 30, 2003, with two one-year renewal options. The chemistry, immunochemistry, and hematology agreements commence on July 1, 2002, and end on March 31, 2004, also with two one-year renewal options.

Premier, Inc., is a strategic alliance in U.S. healthcare, entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading hospital and healthcare systems. These systems operate or are affiliated with approximately 1,600 hospital facilities in 50 states and hundreds of other care sites. Premier provides an array of resources supporting health services delivery. Among these resources are supply chain management support and group purchasing for more than $14 billion annually in supplies and equipment. Premier also offers insurance programs, performance improvement services of many kinds including substantial comparative databases and associated benchmarking applications, clinical technology services, and practice support services. Premier is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices in Chicago, IL; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, D.C.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-oriented healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and vitamins. Roche's products and services address prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, thus enhancing well-being and quality of life. Roche's Diagnostics Division, the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics with a uniquely broad product portfolio, supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals, and laboratories worldwide. Roche Diagnostics Corporation, based in Indianapolis, is the North American headquarters for the diagnostics business of the company. Roche Diagnostics' website is located at www.roche-diagnostics.com.

ACCU-CHEK INFORM, DATACARE, MODULAR, COBAS INTEGRA, TASK TARGETED, and ELECSYS are trademarks of a Member of the Roche Group. Sysmex XE-2100 is a trademark of the Sysmex Corporation.