The Ultimate Show–and-Tell: Former Hoops Star Participates in
ACCU-CHEK Take Chris Dudley to School Contest for Parents of Children with Diabetes

Parents can enter at www.accu-chekwithchris.com
Your kids bring all kinds of things to show-and-tell: favorite stuffed animals, sports trophies, prized odds and ends. How about a diabetes awareness program presented by a former 6’ 11” basketball center?

Roche Diagnostics, the maker of ACCU-CHEK® products and services for people with diabetes, announces the ACCU-CHEK Take Chris Dudley to School contest for parents of children with diabetes in grades 5 to 8 (for the 2006 school year). The winner will have the opportunity to have their child take former National Basketball Association (NBA) center Chris Dudley to school on World Diabetes Day on November 14, 2006. Dudley may host an educational program during a school assembly, visit the child’s class and even go to recess to demonstrate a few hoops tips, if invited.

To enter, parents can submit up to 150 words about why Dudley should attend school with their child. Entries can be made at www.accu-chekwithchris.com.

“Roche Diagnostics is so proud that Chris is part of our team to help people better self-manage their diabetes and realize their dreams. He genuinely demonstrates the potential one can achieve living with diabetes,” said Nancy Lonsinger, Vice President, Marketing, Roche Diabetes Care. “The ACCU-CHEK Take Chris Dudley to School contest gives parents a chance to win the opportunity of a lifetime for their child and his classmates.”

“This contest is a unique way to involve parents of children with diabetes while promoting diabetes awareness, and I am thrilled that I can be a part of such an exciting program,” said Dudley. “I believe that you can do whatever you want to do if you take care of yourself, and it’s important to bring that message to people with diabetes of all ages.”

Dudley is a role model for people with diabetes and without—he has type 1 diabetes and played professional basketball for 16 years, including with the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks. These days, his energies are focused on the Dudley Foundation, which is dedicated to kids and diabetes and provides educational programs, advocacy and support for diabetes research. Through the foundation, he also established the only basketball camp in the country for children with diabetes—the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp for Kids with Diabetes.

The contest runs until June 1, 2006, and the 150-word descriptions will be judged on their relevance to diabetes and the benefit of taking Chris Dudley to their child’s school. Judges will also look at the way ideas are expressed and how unique the situation is. Roche Diagnostics employees and appointees will review all submissions. The child’s school will need to allow Chris Dudley to visit the school. The winning parent will be announced at the Children with Diabetes “Friends for Life” Conference in Orlando this July.

For additional information about products offered by Roche Diagnostics or the Circle of Care, please visit accu-chek.com.

About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics Division
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. Roche is a world leader in Diagnostics, 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.

Roche’s 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 world-wide.

Roche Diagnostics’ North American headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Ind. (www.roche-diagnostics.us) For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.us and www.roche-diagnostics.com

ACCU-CHEK, ACCU-CHEK COMPACT, ACCU-CHEK AVIVA and ACCU-CHEK MULTICLIX are trademarks of Roche.

For more information please contact:

CA 31440