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Media Release

Basel/Kaiseraugst, 19 July 2010

Foundation stone laying ceremony for new laboratory building for quality control and quality assurance at Roche Kaiseraugst

Total investment of about CHF 100 million

At a ceremony attended by project team members and selected guests, the foundation stone was laid today for a new laboratory building at Kaiseraugst for quality control and quality assurance. The staff members working in these areas, who are currently housed in various buildings in Basel and Kaiseraugst, will carry out all quality activities for drugs manufactured or packed at Kaiseraugst in the new laboratories.

"We invest in northwestern Switzerland because of the good conditions this location offers", explains Basel Site Head Matthias M. Baltisberger. "The contribution of our employees in Basel and Kaiseraugst is a decisive factor in this regard. They play a pivotal role in making sure that Roche’s innovative medicines significantly improve patients' lives. This in turn strengthens the region and furthers its growth."

Space for 150 workplaces

The building shell will be erected between June 2010 and early 2011, at a rate of one storey per month. A further year will then be needed to fit out the entire structure. The new facility will offer around 150 laboratory and office workplaces. The interior design of the state-of-the-art building is geared to the streamlining of work procedures. Its open-plan laboratories will deliver high flexibility, boost operational efficiency and shorten communication paths while also applying the "flow line" concept. This concept involves performing the entire quality analysis of medicines in one open plan laboratory to the greatest possible extent. As a result, throughput times will be reduced.

Facts and figures at a glance

  • Investment volume: approx. 100 million Swiss francs
  • Length: 61 m, width: 28 m, height: 25 m
  • Gross floor area: 12,000 m2 spread over six above-ground and two basement storeys
  • State-of-the-art workplaces for some 150 staff members
  • Designed to Swiss "Minergie" energy efficiency standard

Roche in Switzerland

With research and development expenditure of around CHF 1.9 billion and investments of over CHF 420 million annually, Roche in Switzerland is an important part of the Roche Group's global research, development and production network. Roche employs a total of about 9,500 people at Group headquarters in Basel, sites in northwestern and central Switzerland and locations in the Cantons of Berne and Zurich. As a leader in pharmaceuticals and in-vitro diagnostics, Roche generated sales of some CHF 500 million in Switzerland in 2009. Further information: www.roche.ch