Roche launches cobas(R) 4800 System in Canada for testing CT, NG and HPV

New cobas(R) 4800 System designed to increase laboratory efficiency and medical value

Roche Diagnostics Canada (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the launch of a new Health Canada approved clinical laboratory system designed to increase laboratory testing efficiency and to accommodate current and long-term molecular diagnostic needs. The cobas(R) 4800 System combines in vitro diagnostic tests for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing with fully-automated sample preparation and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. Designed to greatly improve laboratory workflow and provide useful information that physicians can immediately act upon, the new cobas(R) 4800 System is now available in Canada.

"With the introduction of the cobas(R) 4800 System in Canada, clinical laboratories now have access to Roche technology that is designed to deliver new standards in laboratory testing efficiency and medically relevant diagnostic information with increased testing throughput," said Christopher Parker, President and General Manager of Roche Diagnostics in Canada.

Roche designed the cobas(R) 4800 System to meet the needs of a majority of clinical laboratories. The system combines state-of-the-art sample preparation with Roche's proprietary real-time PCR technology for the amplification and detection of genetic material (deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA) associated with HPV, CT or NG infections. The intuitive, easy-to-use software integrates sample preparation, amplification and detection, and results management.

The HPV test is designed to detect the 14 HPV high-risk genotypes widely accepted to cause cervical cancer. In addition to identifying these 14 HPV genotypes as a group, the cobas(R) 4800 HPV test enables simultaneous and individual identification of the two genotypes (HPV 16 and 18) that put women at highest risk for cervical cancer. Roche's CT and NG tests detect bacterial DNA associated with chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and are designed to minimize the potential effect that bacterial DNA sequence variations could have on the ability to detect an infection.

Roche launched the cobas(R) 4800 System in countries that accept the CE-Mark in December 2009. The cobas(R) 4800 System is not available in the U.S.