Roche establishes strategic alliance with Diagnostic Laboratory Services

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the establishment of a strategic alliance with Diagnostic Laboratory Services of Aiea, Hawaii, that designates the company as a Roche Molecular Center of Excellence (MCOE) for the next five years.

Established in 2002, Roche's MCOE program is designed to create an alliance network that enables non-competing regional laboratories across the U.S. to collaborate and capitalize on scientific knowledge in molecular testing and, in turn, help accelerate the advancement of new test methods and technology.

"Roche is very pleased to welcome Diagnostic Laboratory Services into the Molecular Center of Excellence alliance," said Whitney Green, senior vice president, commercial operations at Roche Diagnostics Corporation. "We value their expertise, especially in areas like microbiology and pathology, and look forward to working together to implement molecular technologies for the advancement of personalized medicine."

Diagnostic Laboratory Services is one of 33 labs in the U.S. that have received this recognition and joined in this strategic partnership with Roche. "Our physicians and patients will all benefit from the advanced molecular technologies that Roche's Center of Excellence concentrates on," said Richard Okazaki, president and CEO of Diagnostic Laboratory Services. "We are very pleased to be part of this strategic partnership."

As a nationally recognized Roche MCOE, the Diagnostic Laboratory Services molecular diagnostics laboratory will offer physicians and patients some of the latest and most advanced molecular technologies, such as Roche's cobas CT/NG v2.0 Test, a qualitative in-vitro test to help physicians detect chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and subsequently treat infected symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.