Following last year's inaugural conference, we are once again delighted to announce the 2014 Swiss Sustainability Leaders SRI Conference, which will be held on Monday, 17 November 2014 at the Roche Forum Buonas, on Lake Zug, Switzerland (near Zurich).

Phase II study in Japanese patients with a specific type of lung cancer meets primary endpoint of improved progression-free survival with the combination of Avastin and Tarceva compared to Tarceva alone. Roche today announced results from the phase II JO25567 study in which Avastin® (bevacizumab) was added to Tarceva® (erlotinib) as initial (first-line) treatment for people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) characterised by activating mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR Mut+). Patients who received the combination in this study lived significantly longer without their disease getting worse (progression-free survival; PFS) compared to those given Tarceva alone. The results suggest that combining Avastin and Tarceva (anti-angiogenic and EGFR mutation-directed therapies) can provide significant clinical benefit beyond that provided by Tarceva alone for patients with EGFR Mut+ NSCLC.

We are pleased to invite you to an analyst event on Tuesday, 29 July 2014 to discuss Roche's Diagnostics Division, in conjunction with the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Exposition in Chicago, Illinois (July 27-31, 2014).

Roche announced today the acquisition of Genia Technologies, Inc. (Genia), a privately held company, based in Mountain View, California, USA. Genia is developing a single-molecule, semiconductor based, DNA sequencing platform using nanopore technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay Genia’s shareholders USD 125 million in cash. In addition to this payment from Roche, Genia’s shareholders may receive up to USD 225 million in contingent payments depending on the achievement of certain milestones. Genia’s proprietary technology is expected to reduce the price of sequencing while increasing speed and sensitivity.

Encouraging results from Phase 1 study in a rare disease with high unmet medical need. FDA has granted orphan drug designation for RG7155 in the treatment of PVNS. Roche announced today that the company will present new data on its anti-CSF-1R monoclonal antibody, RG7155, at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2014. RG7155 is an investigational medicine designed to decrease tumor-associated macrophages, which are induced by cancers to suppress the body’s own anti-cancer immune response. PVNS is a rare, locally aggressive, neoplastic disease of the synovia of large joints. This disorder is mainly driven by accumulation of macrophages; thus, it has been considered as a model disease to prove RG7155 activity.

GDC-0199/ABT-199 combined with rituximab in relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) shows encouraging activity. Head-to-head ROMULUS data in R/R non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) support further development of polatuzumab vedotin (anti-CD79b ADC).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted first Breakthrough Therapy Designation in bladder cancer for MPDL3280A. Roche today announced results from a Phase I open-label study that showed the investigational cancer immunotherapy MPDL3280A (anti-PDL1) shrank tumours (overall response rate) in 43 percent (13/30) of people previously treated for metastatic urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) whose tumours were characterised as PD-L1 (Programed Death Ligand-1) positive by a test being developed by Roche. Adverse events (AEs) were consistent with what has been previously reported for MPDL3280A. There were no severe (Grade 4-5) treatment related AEs.

Roche today announced that the EU Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended that the European Commission approve Gazyvaro in combination with chlorambucil for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have comorbidities making them unsuitable for a certain type of chemotherapy (full-dose fludarabine). Gazyvaro is marketed as Gazyva in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

We are pleased to invite you to an analyst briefing to discuss data presented on the Roche Group's oncology products and pipeline at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO) in Chicago (30 May - 3 June 2014).

Roche today announced that new data on nine approved and 18 investigational medicines will be presented during the 50th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Of the more than 320 abstracts on Roche medicines, more than 40 have been accepted for oral presentation during the ASCO Annual Meeting.

The extended 10-year agreement strengthens Roche’s pioneering market position. Roche and Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation today announced the signing of a renewed 10-year contract for the joint development and manufacture of the next generation of instruments and workflow automation solutions for medical laboratories. The renewed alliance marks a significant milestone towards new platform solutions in Roche’s immunochemistry and clinical chemistry business that will help laboratories meet future needs.

Roche announced today that William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Head of the Hematology-Oncology Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the US, will join Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) as Global Head of the Oncology Disease and Translational Area (DTA), effective 1 May 2014. He will be responsible for leading Roche’s discovery, translational medicine and early development of innovative oncology medicines. In this capacity he will contribute to maintaining Roche’s leadership in oncology. He will be based in Basel, Switzerland and report to John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Roche pRED.

The former Chief Editor at Nature Medicine to spearhead Roche pRED’s relations with academic and non-profit research organizations. Roche announced today that Juan Carlos Lopez, the former Chief Editor at Nature Medicine, will join Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) as head of the new Academic Relations & Collaborations (ARC) group, effective February 17, 2014.

Today the scientific journal Neuron published results on the Roche-designed Brain Shuttle technology that efficiently transfers investigational antibodies from the blood through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the brain in preclinical models.

Positive results will help physicians identify patients at highest risk, improving clinical outcome and healthcare resource allocation. PROGNOSIS, a clinical study with more than 1200 subjects enrolled from 14 countries worldwide, is expected to mark a significant improvement in the short-term prediction of preeclampsia. Presented at the 18th World Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics, Gynecology & Infertility (COGI) held in Vienna in October, the study is investigating the correlation between the ratio of two proteins sFlt-1 (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1) and PlGF (placental growth factor) in maternal blood and the risk of developing preeclampsia over the subsequent four weeks. Initial data from the interim analysis show promising results with the potential for clearly improving the conventional diagnostics of the disease, based on the clinical parameters hypertension and proteinuria.

IT solutions to support clinical laboratories in meeting current and future needs. Roche today announced the launch of cobas infinity IT solutions, a clinical laboratory IT solution that manages data and sample workflow for labs of all sizes. Healthcare professionals will benefit from a more flexible and simplified working experience made possible through an intuitive and common user interface across laboratory disciplines. The fully web-based and modular architecture makes the solution expandable to meet current and future needs.

Roche today announced the start of the TROPICAL-ACS (Testing Responsiveness to Platelet Inhibition on Chronic Antiplatelet treatment for Acute Coronary Syndromes) trial, an investigator-initiated multicenter study designed to evaluate the benefit of personalized antiplatelet therapy in patients who have acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The trial's primary purpose is to evaluate whether a treatment approach guided by platelet function testing with Roche’s Multiplate1 analyzer is non-inferior to a 12-month standard therapy with prasugrel. The study will involve 2600 patients from 15 investigational centers in Europe.

The FDA has approved the Tina-quant HbA1cDx Gen. 2 assay as an aid in diagnosing diabetes. Roche today announced the worldwide commercial availability of the Tina-quant HbA1cDx Gen.2 laboratory test, which aids healthcare professionals in diagnosing and monitoring diabetes in addition to identifying at-risk patients. Thanks to this new test, which will be commercially available in the third quarter of 2013 as part of the COBAS INTEGRA 800 clinical chemistry analyzer, physicians can now conduct instant testing without needing patients to be in a fasted state.

The latest Software Version 2.9 enables highly accurate sequencing of long 16S ribosomal RNA amplicons for more precise taxonomic assignment of organisms in microbial surveys

The latest innovations in Roche’s portfolio of workflow and IT solutions for laboratories and point-of-care settings are enjoying a strong market response. Strategic investments in developing new instruments and software for totally automated lab workflows and information management translated into major business gains for the company in the first half of 2013. These include recent customer acquisitions in emerging markets in Asia, EMEA and Latin America.

Roche announced today the acquisition of Genia Technologies, Inc. (Genia), a privately held company, based in Mountain View, California, USA. Genia is developing a single-molecule, semiconductor based, DNA sequencing platform using nanopore technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay Genia’s shareholders USD 125 million in cash. In addition to this payment from Roche, Genia’s shareholders may receive up to USD 225 million in contingent payments depending on the achievement of certain milestones. Genia’s proprietary technology is expected to reduce the price of sequencing while increasing speed and sensitivity.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted first Breakthrough Therapy Designation in bladder cancer for MPDL3280A. Roche today announced results from a Phase I open-label study that showed the investigational cancer immunotherapy MPDL3280A (anti-PDL1) shrank tumours (overall response rate) in 43 percent (13/30) of people previously treated for metastatic urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) whose tumours were characterised as PD-L1 (Programed Death Ligand-1) positive by a test being developed by Roche. Adverse events (AEs) were consistent with what has been previously reported for MPDL3280A. There were no severe (Grade 4-5) treatment related AEs.

Roche today announced that the EU Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended that the European Commission approve Gazyvaro in combination with chlorambucil for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have comorbidities making them unsuitable for a certain type of chemotherapy (full-dose fludarabine).

Roche today announced that new data on nine approved and 18 investigational medicines will be presented during the 50th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Of the more than 320 abstracts on Roche medicines, more than 40 have been accepted for oral presentation during the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Roche announced today that the subcutaneous formulation of RoACTEMRA (tocilizumab) has received approval from the European Commission for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who are either intolerant to or have failed to respond to other RA treatments. This approval makes RoACTEMRA the first anti IL-6 receptor biologic available as subcutaneous and intravenous (IV) formulations for both monotherapy and combination therapy with methotrexate (MTX). It is the fourth update to RoACTEMRA’s European label and significantly expands the number of patients who now have access to RoACTEMRA.

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the cobas HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Test for use as a first-line primary screening test for cervical cancer in women 25 and older. The approval follows the March 12 unanimous recommendation from the Microbiology Devices Panel of the FDA’s Medical Devices Advisory Committee, making the cobas HPV Test the first and only HPV test in the United States approved for first-line primary screening.

Continued growth due to recently launched medicines

IQuum’s unique products will allow Roche to quickly enter the point of care segment of molecular diagnostics. Roche announced today the acquisition of IQuum, Inc. based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA. IQuum is a privately held company focused on developing point of care offerings for the molecular diagnostics market. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay IQuum shareholders USD 275 million upfront and up to USD 175 million in contingent product related milestones. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Roche announced today that the European Commission (EC) has approved a new subcutaneous (SC) formulation of MabThera (rituximab) for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Roche today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xolair (omalizumab) for the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), a form of chronic hives. The new use is for people 12 years of age and older who remain symptomatic despite treatment with H1-antihistamine therapy. Until now, H1-antihistamines have been the only approved therapy for CIU, with about 50 percent of patients having an inadequate response.