Roche Selects the Alexandria Center™ for Life Science - New York City for Its New Translational Clinical Research Center

PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), the leading owner, operator, and developer of high-quality, sustainable real estate for the broad and diverse life science industry, is honored to announce that Roche Holding Ltd will establish its new Translational Clinical Research Center (TCRC) at the Alexandria Center for Life Science – New York City. The TCRC will be the mission-critical presence for Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) in the United States. Located in the heart of the East Side Medical Corridor, the Alexandria Center for Life Science will provide Roche with critical adjacency to New York City's nine major academic medical centers and its numerous ongoing clinical trials in a thriving environment purposely built for life science collaboration and innovation. Roche has signed an 11-year lease and anticipates moving its TCRC team to the approximately 421,000 square foot West Tower of the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which is expected to be delivered in 4Q 2013.

"We are very pleased with the selection of the Alexandria Center for Life Science as this will be a strategically important site for Roche," said Mike Burgess, M.D., Acting Global Head, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development. "We looked at several great properties in New York and New Jersey and selected the Alexandria Center for Life Science for its unique location as well as the dynamic, vibrant, and thriving scientific atmosphere it offers. For Roche research, having the TCRC located in the Alexandria Center for Life Science will be a critical element in helping us maintain the high caliber of scientific excellence within Roche pRED, carry out our long-term strategic research vision, tap into scientific expertise, and find new and innovative ways to move the drug development process forward."

Roche's decision to relocate to New York City will allow its TCRC to build upon and enhance connections to key stakeholders in the U.S., maintain interactions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and enhance collaborations with U.S.-based partners. Employees of the TCRC will be responsible for leading global early development programs and clinical trials, as well as developing strategy and implementing translational research programs focused on disease understanding and the development of potential new medicines.

"We are honored that Roche, our longtime client tenant in the San Francisco Bay Area, has selected the thriving New York City life science cluster and the Alexandria Center for Life Science as its platform to substantially enhance its collaboration and translational efforts," said Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. "Roche's move is the latest in the trend of biopharmaceutical companies establishing a mission-critical presence in New York City in order to collaborate with the large concentration of first-class academic medical centers along the East Side Medical Corridor. A strategic presence in New York City enables more rapid translation of 'bench to bedside' therapies in key areas of oncology, neuroscience, cardiology, immunology, and virology with the result of substantially reducing the economic cost to society of these devastating illnesses."

The Alexandria Center for Life Science was developed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., in a strategic relationship with the City and State of New York, to become the leading commercial destination in New York City for world-class life science entities to translate innovative discoveries into breakthrough products for patients with significant unmet medical needs. The first phase of development, which included the LEED^® Gold Certified, 308,000 square foot East Tower, opened in 4Q 2010 fully leased to a diverse selection of high-quality client tenants including Eli Lilly and Company, whose wholly-owned subsidiary focused on oncology, ImClone Systems Incorporated, is headquartered in the building; Pfizer Inc.'s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation; New York University's Neuroscience Translational Research Institute; and Kadmon Corporation, LLC. The East Tower also features a variety of creative environments designed to foster life science convergence including Apella, a state-of-the-art digital conference center and event space; two outstanding culinary establishments – Riverpark, a Tom Colicchio Restaurant, and 'wichcraft, an artisanal sandwich shop; a fully equipped fitness center; an onsite parking garage and convenient shuttle with transportation to and from Penn Station; and a one-acre idyllic riverfront plaza. With the delivery of the West Tower, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will have completed approximately 729,000 square feet of high-quality laboratory/office space in New York City for the world's leading life science entities to translate innovative discoveries into safe and effective products that save lives and manage disease.

About Roche Holding Ltd

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, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. 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 2011, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs ($9 billion US) in R&D. The Group posted sales of 42.5 billion Swiss francs ($47.8 billion US). Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com or www.roche-nutley.com.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), is the largest and leading investment-grade REIT focused principally on owning, operating, redeveloping, developing, 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 every core life science cluster location including Greater Boston, San Francisco Bay, 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, U.S. government research agencies, medical device companies, clean technology companies, venture capitalists, and life science product and service companies. As the recognized real estate partner of the life science industry, Alexandria has a superior track record in driving client tenant productivity and innovation through its best-in-class laboratory and office space, collaborative locations adjacent to leading academic and medical institutions, unparalleled life science real estate expertise and services, and longstanding and expansive network in the life science community, which we believe result in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value. For more information, please visit www.are.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws.  Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.