Roche Diagnostics Awarded Novation Agreement for Point-of-Care Coagulation Testing

Roche Diagnostics announced today that they have signed a three-year contract with Novation. The contract enables VHA, Inc. and University Health System Consortium (UHC) members to draw upon the broad Roche Diagnostics portfolio of total solutions to increase efficiency while enhancing services to their physicians. These services include timely and actionable information for patient management which leads to better patient outcomes.

Roche Diagnostics is currently under contract with Novation for blood gas, blood glucose monitoring, chemistry, and immunochemistry products, in addition to the coagulation products, which makes Roche Diagnostics one of the biggest laboratory and Point-of-Care vendors for Novation.

Novation is the supply company of VHA, Inc, and UHC for Roche Diagnostics coagulation products. The CoaguChek® S system, which measures blood clotting time, CoaguWipes, CoaguChek Lancets, other ancillary products, and USI educational programs will be available to Point-of-Care facilities within the VHA and UHC memberships.

Point-of-Care PT/INR testing, which is growing in importance in today's physician marketplace, provides important information for patients who are on warfarin or Coumadin®. Monitoring a patient's PT/INR levels is crucial for maximizing each patient's time in range to help minimize adverse effects. The CoaguChek S system allows clinicians to test a patient's PT/INR in one minute using only 10µL of blood obtained by a simple fingerstick device. Achieving one-minute results on-site allows clinicians to adjust a patient's warfarin/Coumadin dosage immediately, as opposed to sending blood to a lab and waiting for results. Only one name provides a complete solution for professionals who care for patients on anticoagulation therapy, CoaguChek Systems.

About Novation

Based in Irving, Texas, Novation was established in January 1998 through a combination of the supply programs of VHA and UHC, two national healthcare alliances. Novation serves the purchasing needs of more than 2,300 members and affiliates of VHA and UHC. These organizations used Novation contracts to purchase more than $23 billion in supplies in 2004.

About Roche and Roche Diagnostics

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-intensive healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative 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. As a world leader in diagnostics, Roche is the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation, and a market leader in virology. In 2004, the Pharmaceuticals Division generated 21.7 billion Swiss francs in prescription drug sales, while the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 7.8 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. The Roche Diagnostics Division, with a uniquely broad product portfolio, supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals, and laboratories worldwide. The Roche Diagnostics North American headquarters is located in Indianapolis, IN. (www.roche-diagnostics.us) For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.us and www.roche-diagnostics.com.

http://www.coaguchek-usa.com

CoaguChek is a trademark of Roche. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For additional information contact:

Lori LeRoy
Roche Diagnostics
Tel.: +1-317-521-7159
www.roche-diagnostics.us