We innovate healthcare As a research-focused healthcare company, Roche discovers, develops and provides innovative diagnostic and therapeutic products and services that deliver significant benefits to patients and healthc......We innovate healthcare As a research-focused healthcare company, Roche discovers, develops and provides innovative diagnostic and therapeutic products and services that deliver significant benefits to patients and healthcare professionals – from early detection and prevention of diseases to diagnosis, treatment, and treatment monitoring. Roche employs over 80,000 people and sells its products in over 150 countries. Led and supported by the Group Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, a series of local subsidiaries are at your disposal to provide you with the best possible service. Where weve come from Roche was founded on October 1st, 1896. The founder, Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, was among the first to recognize that the industrial manufacture of standardized medicines would be a major advance in the fight against disease. From the very beginning, Roche’s visionary founder focused his company on innovation and on establishing an international presence. This multinational presence reinforces our ability to offer our healthcare solutions and to anticipate needs in all regions of the world. Where we are today Today Roche ranks among the world’s leading healthcare companies and has two strong core businesses: diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. Serving Patients and Customers Roche’s prime objective is to identify and meet the patient’s and customers’ needs. This implies solving their problems and anticipating their future needs by maintaining close contact with them and listening to what they say. At Roche we focus our resources on two research intensive businesses: pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Within these businesses we prioritise those areas of significant unmet need where we have the expertise to make a difference. Our aim is to develop new and improved drugs, diagnostic tests and services offering significant benefits over existing options. Focusing on Innovation By innovation we mean the creation and commercialisation of medically differentiated products and services that lead to a tangible improvement to the health, quality and length of patients’ lives. As a research-focused company we exploit the latest discoveries and technologies to develop our products. This is why Roche invested over 9 billion Swiss francs in 2010 on research and development. Roche continues its longstanding tradition of working in alliances with some of the most forward-looking and technologically advanced companies in the world. Roche invests heavily in biotechnology and is the world’s largest biotechnology company.Where we’re going Personalised Healthcare Two patients can have the same diagnosis yet respond in different ways to the same medicine. One patient may be helped by treatment, while the other experiences unwanted side effects without the desired clinical benefit. Some of this variability is due to genetic and other biological differences between patients. The idea of personalised healthcare is to use insights into these differences at the molecular level to develop treatments and tests tailored to the needs of specific patient populations. This has enormous potential to make healthcare better, safer and more cost-effective. It will be a while before this potential is fully realised, but the market is clearly shifting away from ‘one size fits all’ products. Roche is a driving force behind this trend and already has several personalised healthcare products on the market. One important aspect of personalising medicine is the close interaction between pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. The fact that we are leaders in both these areas is a source of competitive advantage when it comes to meeting the healthcare challenges of the future.