Roche and Diagnostica Stago terminate partnership

Rotkreuz, Switzerland/Asnieres, France (OTS) - Roche Professional
Diagnostics and Diagnostica Stago announced today that the companies
have decided to pursue separate paths in the business of Laboratory
Coagulation in the territories where Roche distributed the Stago
product range. The exclusive sales of Stago products by Roche will
continue throughout the entire year of 2011. With the exception of
Japan where Roche Diagnostics Japan will continue to distribute the
Stago portfolio within the Japanese market under a separate
agreement, Stago will sell its products directly or through other
distribution channels.

Stago and Roche have an agreement to ensure that all contractual
obligations regarding Stago products that Roche has or will enter
into can be fulfilled by Roche during the agreed upon three year
transition period.

"The arrangements between Stago and Roche provide our customers
with a secure way forward. We have made sure that product supply
continues without interruption, and customers can rely on both Roche
and Stago to continue to fulfill their needs in laboratory
coagulation", said Colin Brown, Head of Roche Professional
Diagnostics.

Bertrand Bonnot, COO of Stago, said "We are convinced that, after
almost 40 years of successful partnership, it is the right timing for
both companies to follow independent paths. Nevertheless, both Stago
and Roche are committed to work together to ensure a seamless
transition in the coming years."

Both Roche and Stago remain committed to respond to current and
future needs of hemostasis customers.

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in
research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in
pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech
company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology,
inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in
in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer
in diabetes management. Roche's personalised healthcare strategy aims
at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible
improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients.
In 2010, Roche had over 80'000 employees worldwide and invested over
9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 47.5 billion
Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of
the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical,
Japan. For more information: www.roche.com

About Stago

Stago, created in 1945, is an IVD company which develops and
markets reagents and automated systems for the investigation of blood
coagulation disorders. Stago is a leading player in Haemostasis.
Headquarters, as well as R&D, manufacturing and logistics activities
are located mainly in the Paris area (France). Stago products are
available in more than 100 countries in the world. In 2010, Stago
Group had over 2000 employees worldwide. For more information:
www.stago.com

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by
law.

Rückfragehinweis:
Roche Diagnostics AG
Dr. Daniel Fleiter
Global PR Manager (RPD)
Phone: +41/41/798'59'90
E-Mail: [email protected]

Diagnostica Stago SA
Frédéric Duval
Head of Communication
Phone: +33-1-46-88-21-96
E-Mail: [email protected]

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