PENZBERG, Germany – At the “Developments in Real-Time PCR” Symposium in Prague, June 13th – 17thhttp://www.qpcrsymposium.eu/ , Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) officially presented the latest addition to the company’s real-time PCR portfolio of LightCycler(R) instruments. The LightCycler(R) Nano instrument is being targeted at users expecting top performance in times of tight budgets.

At the exhibition of the Prague symposium, Roche representatives demonstrated the excellent characteristics of the 32-well instrument. The system’s innovative approach, both regarding optics and thermal control, results in an extremely low variation of well-to-well performance that could only previously be achieved by higher-priced instruments. The instrument and its software can be used with all computer operating systems, including Apple, Windows-PC and Linux. Instead of miniaturized disposables, PCR strips are used to further optimize the convenient handling of the instrument. These PCR strips are offered bundled together with proven high quality PCR reagents at a very attractive price.

“PCR users primarily care about the quality of their research. They expect their instrumentation to be enjoyable and convenient to use and that it fits into their working environment,” said Gerd Haberhausen, Life Cycle Leader qPCR and Nucleic Acid Preparation at Roche Applied Science. “The LightCycler(R) Nano System satisfies these expectations by delivering excellent research results and still being enjoyable to work with.”

Roche expects to start shipping LightCycler(R) Nano Instrument packages in early July.

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 personalized 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: http://www.roche.com.

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