Roche Diabetes Care's ACCU-CHEK® Blood Glucose Meters Rank Highest in Overall Satisfaction in Inaugural J.D. Power and Associates Study(SM)

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Adults living with diabetes in the United States reported highest satisfaction using Roche Diabetes Care's ACCU-CHEK products compared with other blood glucose meter manufacturers, according to the inaugural J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Blood Glucose Meter Satisfaction Study^SM. Diabetes affects a large portion of the U.S. population – 25.8 million children and adults or approximately 1 in 12 people.¹ The study gathered responses from 2,681 current meter users with type 1 and 2 diabetes in the U.S. to determine customer satisfaction across six factors: performance; ease of use; design; features; cost of test strips; and training.

In addition to achieving the highest in overall satisfaction, ACCU-CHEK blood glucose meters by Roche, which include the ACCU-CHEK Nano SmartView system, ACCU-CHEK Aviva Plus and ACCU-CHEK Compact Plus, scored the highest in performance, ease of use, cost of test strips and training. According to a J.D. Power and Associates press release announcing the study results, ACCU-CHEK meters by Roche "perform particularly well in the performance factor, reflecting a high level of confidence among users that they are obtaining accurate readings."

"A blood glucose meter is one of the most important tools for people with diabetes as it empowers them to independently manage their diabetes on a daily basis," said Debbie Hinnen, a diabetes educator and director of education services at Mid-America Diabetes Associates. "Therefore, a meter that is accurate and easy to use is key as it helps to ensure patients make informed decisions about their meal plan, exercise, insulin use and other lifestyle challenges."

The survey comes on the heels of two new product launches from Roche in the past 12 months – ACCU-CHEK Aviva Plus and ACCU-CHEK Nano SmartView systems – both of which deliver advanced accuracy as tested against a 23% tighter specification.²

"Roche is honored by these results because they reflect our unwavering commitment to providing our customers with the best possible products and services that fit right into people's lives," said Marc Gibeley, Head of Roche Diabetes Care North America. "As J.D. Power and Associates is the gold standard of measuring customer satisfaction, we're humbled by the outstanding results achieved by ACCU-CHEK meters in its independent analysis."

The 2012 Blood Glucose Meter Satisfaction Study was fielded via an online survey in October 2012.

About Roche Diabetes Care
Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients' condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management—from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems. For more information, please visit accu-chek.com.

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, infectious diseases, inflammation, metabolism and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner 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 2012 Roche had over 82,000 employees worldwide and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 45.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

For further information, please contact:

Todd Siesky
Director, Corporate Communications
Roche Diagnostics North America
Indianapolis, IN
(317) 521-3966 O
(317) 361-7637 C
[email protected]

References:

1. Center for Diabetes and Prevention. National Diabetes Fact Sheet. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf. Accessed January 17, 2013.
2. Specifications based on current Internal Organization for Standardization (ISO) 15197: 2003.

SOURCE Roche