Indianapolis, Ind., February 23, 2004

Roche Diagnostics' ACCU-CHEK® Inform System Incorporates New Functionality

Roche Diagnostics has introduced a new feature in its ACCU-CHEK Inform system which will further increase workflow and efficiency for healthcare professionals. With its new Other Test Entry (OTE) functionality, the ACCU-CHEK Inform system, a point-of-care blood glucose meter, allows operators to enter information for six common manual point-of-care tests:

When using the ACCU-CHEK Inform system with Roche Diagnostics hospital connectivity, test results, quality control results, test kit lot numbers, and patient and operator identification numbers can be sent to the data manager and then transferred to a hospital information system.

The ACCU-CHEK Inform system is the only point-of-care glucose system that offers the entry and automatic transfer (when docked) of manual test information. By implementing the new OTE feature on the ACCU-CHEK Inform system, point-of-care programs can create electronic documentation for information that is traditionally recorded in manual logs and facilitate cost capture for six common tests. The OTE feature on the ACCU-CHEK Inform system also helps hospitals reduce patient identification errors by utilizing the meter's onboard bar code scanner to capture patient ID numbers.

"Now hospitals and healthcare professional can expand the quality of their point-of-care glucose program to include six common manual tests. With the OTE functionality of the ACCU-CHEK Inform system, we are further demonstrating our market leadership and helping our customers attain best-in-class point-of-care practices," said Rod Cotton, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Diabetes Care Hospital Group, Roche Diagnostics. "We continue to enhance patient care and provide proven value to healthcare professionals."

Contact your Roche Diagnostics Account Manager or ACCU-CHEK^SM Customer Care at 1-800-440-3638 for additional information and system requirements.

About Roche and Roche Diagnostics

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 number one in the global diagnostics market, the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals for cancer and 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 approximately 65,000 people in 150 countries. The Group has alliances and research and development agreements with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. 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 world-wide. Roche Diagnostics' North American headquarters are in Indianapolis, Indiana (www.roche-diagnostics.us). For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.us and www.roche-diagnostics.com.

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For additional information contact:

www.roche-diagnostics.us

ACCU-CHEK, and ACCU-CHEK INFORM are trademarks of a Member of the Roche Group.