Roche earmarks $300m for diagnostics HQ
pharmafile | June 26, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Diagnostics, Illumina, Roche, US, manufacturingÂ
Roche has said it intends to invest $300 million over the next 10 years at its diagnostics headquarters in Indianapolis, US, with the creation of up to 100 jobs by 2017.
The money will be spent on capital investments, including the refurbishing of existing buildings, purchasing of manufacturing equipment for new diabetes care test strips and upgrading of information technology systems.
One of the first projects to be undertaken is the construction of a commercial education centre where Roche Diagnostics’ customers can receive training in its products. Work on the unit will start in the autumn and the expectation is that it will be used to train up to 1,500 people a year.
Indianapolis has housed Roche’s diagnostics activities in various incarnations since the mid-1960s and now the site employs around 3,000 people, with around two-thirds involved in sales and marketing as well as a sizeable manufacturing workforce.
The Indianapolis campus’s manufacturing facilities produce around two billion Accu-Chek diabetes test strips every year, as well as other diagnostic products.
“As the leader in the in-vitro diagnostics industry, we’re proud to be a part of the growing life sciences movement in central Indiana,” said Jack Phillips, president and chief executive of Roche Diagnostics.
Roche has identified in-vitro diagnostics as one of its key areas of investment, not least because the sector is growing fast – tipped to approach $60 billion worldwide in 2015 from a level of around $45 billion in 2010 – and seems somewhat immune to the cost-restrictive environment that has stunted growth in therapeutics of late.
The company says it has around 20% market share – well ahead of competitors such as Abbott, Siemens and Johnson & Johnson – and tried to extend its lead earlier this year via a hostile $6.7 billion takeover bid for molecular diagnostic specialist Illumina. This was eventually abandoned in the face of staunch opposition from Illumina’s board and shareholders.
At the time, Roche chief executive Severin Schwan said the company would look at other acquisitions and additional ‘options and opportunities’ to expand its diagnostics business.
Phil Taylor
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