Roche inaugurates Translational and Clinical Research Center at the Alexandria Center for Life Science in New York City

BASEL, Switzerland and NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) inaugurated today the Translational and Clinical Research Center (TCRC) at the prestigious Alexandria Center for Life Science in Manhattan's East Side Medical Corridor by hosting New York officials and dignitaries as well as life science leaders from institutions across the U.S. The Roche TCRC is part of the Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) organization, and will serve as the hub for pRED activities in North America, underscoring the center's importance to pRED and Roche. The TCRC staff is comprised of some 250 highly experienced drug developers who are focused on early clinical development of Roche drug candidates. In addition to advancing Roche's existing portfolio, the TCRC experts will aim to access external innovation by identifying collaborations ranging from very early discovery platforms through advanced stage molecules. The Roche TCRC staff will officially move into the Alexandria Center for Life Science on January 2, 2014.

"We are pleased to have the TCRC based at the Alexandria Center for Life Science and excited by the collaborative opportunities afforded by its proximity to patients and world-class expertise in experimental medicine," said John C. Reed, MD, PhD, Head of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development. "New York City has much to offer – it is the most populated city in America, has seven outstanding medical schools and also ranks second in the U.S. in medical research funding (NIH). Therefore, we believe this is the best location to pursue the goals of the TCRC as well as our global research and development organization."

"TCRC will serve as an important conduit between the life sciences community in North America and the global Roche organization," said Judith Dunn, PhD, Head of the Roche TCRC. "Our location in the Alexandria Center for Life Science will enable us to combine our expertise with that of world class researchers here in a vibrant scientific environment. We will be engaging collaborators in a transformative approach to drug development, which will provide solutions for unmet medical needs and ultimately improve the lives of patients and their families."

"We are honored that Roche has chosen the Alexandria Center for Life Science as the home for its Translational and Clinical Research Center," said Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. "New York City has an unparalleled concentration of world-class academic medical research centers and is the ideal platform for Roche to substantially enhance its collaboration and translational clinical efforts."

Following the inauguration ceremony, Roche hosted a scientific symposium with an impressive line-up of keynote speakers who discussed advances in key areas of research being conducted by pRED. The areas of oncology, neuroscience, diabetic complications and infectious diseases were featured, with particular emphasis on acute myeloid leukemia, spinal muscular atrophy, diabetic kidney disease and influenza. During the symposium, Roche also presented TCRC Young Investigator Awards to four promising researchers: Carolina Bigarella, PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine for cancer research; Christian Simon, PhD, Columbia University for neurology research; Alexander Grabner, MD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for diabetes research; and Priya Luthra, PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine for infectious diseases research. Roche encouraged applications from researchers who have completed their graduate degrees (MD and/or PhD) within the past five years and who are studying disease areas of interest to Roche. Grants were awarded to the four institutions that employ the researchers.

About Roche Research

Roche believes that a diversity of views, cultures and approaches promotes creativity. As a result, Roche has three Research and Development groups within its Pharmaceutical organization: Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED; located in Europe, China and New York City, NY), Genentech Research and Early Development (gRED in South San Francisco, CA) and Chugai (in Japan). This unique structure is designed to foster innovation by encouraging a diversity of strategies and approaches to tackling unmet medical needs.

Within the pRED component of Roche's R&D enterprise, expertise in pharmaceutical drug discovery, monoclonal antibody engineering, and other therapeutic technologies is focused on several therapeutic areas, including oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular/metabolism and infectious diseases to deliver innovative medicines aimed at significantly improving outcomes for patients.  Roche pRED comprises 2,200 scientists, clinicians, and supporting professionals worldwide.

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, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer 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 ($9 billion US) in R&D. The Group posted sales of 45.5 billion Swiss francs ($48.4 billion US). Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), a self-administered and self-managed investment-grade real estate investment trust ("REIT"), is the largest and leading REIT focused principally on owning, operating, developing, redeveloping and acquiring high-quality, sustainable real estate for the broad and diverse life science industry. Founded in 1994, Alexandria was the first REIT to identify and pursue the laboratory niche and has since had the first-mover advantage in the core life science cluster locations including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, New York City, Seattle, Suburban Washington, D.C., and Research Triangle Park. Alexandria's high-credit client tenants span the life science industry, including renowned academic and medical institutions, multinational pharmaceutical companies, public and private biotechnology entities, United States government research agencies, medical device companies, industrial biotech companies, venture capital firms, and life science product and service companies. Investment-grade client tenants represented 46% of Alexandria's total annualized base rent as of June 30, 2013. As the recognized real estate partner of the life science industry, Alexandria has a superior track record in driving client tenant productivity, collaboration, and innovation through its best-in-class laboratory and office space adjacent to leading academic medical research centers, unparalleled life science real estate expertise and services, and longstanding and expansive network in the life science community. We believe these advantages result in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value. For additional information on Alexandria, please visit www.are.com.

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SOURCE Roche