Roche Teams Up with LabCentral to Support Biotech Startups

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- LabCentral and Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced an agreement in which Roche would provide technology and financial support to LabCentral, a first-of-its-kind shared laboratory space designed as a launchpad for high-potential life-sciences and biotech startups.

"We are thrilled to welcome Roche as our newest gold sponsor," said LabCentral's Co-Founder and President, Johannes Fruehauf, M.D., Ph.D. "Having the world's largest biotech company on our roster of supporters is a testament to LabCentral's model designed to spur science innovation and fast-track startups to be successful and improve human health."

"Translating life science research into improved ways to diagnose disease is critical to the development of personalized healthcare solutions and better patient care," said Roche Diagnostics North America President and CEO Jack Phillips. "Today, LabCentral and its resident companies are at the center of some of the most-promising healthcare research, and Roche is excited to be a part of their effort to foster this kind of innovation."

Roche instruments will expand capacity for LabCentral resident companies performing high-throughput DNA studies. They include a MagNA Pure 96 robotic workstation for automated purification of nucleic acids, LightCycler^® 96 Real-Time PCR system, and automated reagent freezer. 

About LabCentral (www.labcentral.org; twitter @labcentral)
A 28,000 square-foot facility in the heart of the Kendall Square, Cambridge, biotech innovation hub, LabCentral is a first-of-its-kind shared laboratory space designed as a launchpad for high-potential life-sciences and biotech startups. It offers fully permitted laboratory and office space for 28 startups comprising approximately 100 scientists and entrepreneurs. LabCentral provides first-class facility and administrative support, skilled laboratory personnel, a domain-relevant expert speaker series ‒ as well as the other critical services and support that early-stage companies need to begin laboratory operations on day one. A private, nonprofit institution, LabCentral was funded in part by a $5 million grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, with support from its real-estate partner, MIT. Founding sponsors include Triumvirate Environmental and Johnson & Johnson Innovation

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, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a front-runner in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy.

In 2013 the Roche Group employed over 85,000 people worldwide, invested 8.7 billion Swiss francs in R&D and posted sales of 46.8 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 or www.usdiagnostics.roche.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
LabCentral: Caroline A. Grossman | +1.781.771.5579 | [email protected]
Roche: Michael Weist, APR | +1.317.521.3112 | [email protected]

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SOURCE LabCentral; Roche Diagnostics

Related Links

http://www.roche.com