Basel, June 30, 2004

Promega False Claims Complaint Dismissed by Virginia Federal Court

Promega False Claims Complaint Against Roche Dismissed By Virginia Federal Court

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia today dismissed a case filed by the Promega Corporation against Hoffmann-La Roche Inc (Roche Molecular Systems) and Applied Biosystems (ABI), rejecting Promega's claims that Roche and ABI had committed fraud against the U.S. Government.

The case is related to Roche's efforts to enforce its Nobel-prize winning PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technology, which is widely used by health and law enforcement officials. Roche is suing Promega in the Northern District of California for infringing patents covering this technology. Roche believes Promega filed its Virginia case in part to force a settlement of the California case.

Last July 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice expressly rejected Promega's request that it intervene in the same Virginia case. The case was then "unsealed" in November 2003 to permit Promega to litigate on its own. Roche and ABI moved to dismiss the case. Today the District Court granted that motion.

U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton dismissed the case notwithstanding he was legally obligated to assume everything Promega had alleged was true.

"Plaintiffs fail to allege specific facts about what exactly was obtained through the alleged fraud," Judge Hilton stated in the opinion and order issued today. "Vague allegations of higher payments and generalized platitudes regarding the reduced use of competitors' products are not enough."

"As we have stated from the beginning, Promega's case was baseless and should never have been filed," said Heino von Prondzynski, Head of Roche Diagnostics and Member of the Roche Executive Committee. "We will continue to hold Promega accountable for its infringement of our PCR technology."

The False Claims Act requires the plaintiff who brings the suit to be the "original source" of the information, thus encouraging "insiders" to come forward. Because of this, Roche and ABI had also sought to dismiss the case because Promega relied extensively on public information. The Court stated it was unnecessary to address this and other grounds for dismissal of the case, because Promega's complaint, on its face, did not meet the standards for a suit under the False Claims Act.

The case was dismissed without prejudice, granting Promega 14 days to amend its complaint.

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 roughly 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. For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.com and www.roche-diagnostics.com.

For more information, please contact: