Roche Diagnostics, a division of Roche, offers the industry's most comprehensive in vitro diagnostics solutions, with molecular diagnostics, clinical chemistry and immunoassays, tissue diagnostics, point of care testing, patient self-testing, next-generation sequencing, laboratory automation, and IT and decision-support solutions. In Hacienda, the diagnostics division is represented by Roche Molecular Solutions.

"As an innovation engine for Roche Diagnostics, we create integrated molecular solutions to advance the standard of care for everyone," says Paul Brown, Global Head of Roche Molecular Solutions, one of the global business areas within Roche Diagnostics. "We are driving toward personalized medicine, specifically at our Hacienda site."

Roche's Hacienda campus is the global headquarters for Roche Molecular Solutions, which includes Molecular Diagnostics Sequencing Solutions and Tissue Diagnostics. Molecular Diagnostics develops and manufactures innovative laboratory diagnostic tests based on Nobel Prize-winning polymerase chain reaction technology. This technology underlies diagnostic tests that allow healthcare providers to select treatment and monitor patient response to therapy or can identify molecular characteristics of a disease.

Sequencing Solutions focuses on bringing next-generation sequencing into routine clinical practice. Sequencing is measuring an individual's genetic code to understand susceptibility to or the presence of a disease. This process can help determine the treatment options best-suited for that individual.

Roche Tissue Diagnostics provides more than 250 biopsy-based cancer tests with related instruments and integrated workflow solutions for the 14 million people diagnosed with cancer annually. Through its work in developing companion diagnostic assays for pharmaceutical partners, Roche is advancing the field of personalized healthcare, which links the most accurate diagnosis with the most targeted and relevant therapeutic available for each patient.

"Most people are probably not aware of the value diagnostics testing brings to the entire spectrum of healthcare," says Brown, who notes that in vitro diagnostics influences around 70% of all clinical decisions, but makes up only about 2% of total healthcare costs. "Diagnostic testing is not just used to confirm or inform a diagnosis. In some cases, it is used to monitor the effectiveness of, and adjust treatment, which improves overall patient care."

Roche has revolutionized cancer diagnostics worldwide through testing automation. Among the company's accomplishments is the development of the Roche Cervical Cancer Portfolio, which helps to identify women at risk of developing cervical cancer.

Some of the company's diagnostic breakthroughs have come in response to crises, including the 2015 outbreak of Zika in Brazil. The World Health Organization declared Zika a public health emergency, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) turned to diagnostic companies for help in developing a test to detect the Zika virus in blood. Roche responded to the FDA's call, and the result was Roche's Zika virus test, which was developed, validated, and deployed within 10 weeks of the FDA's request.

The company's global headquarters are located in Basel, Switzerland. Its Hacienda campus hosts more than 1,000 full-time and contract employees, with nearly 400 working in research and development. Local employees partner with Pleasanton's Valley View Elementary School Girl Scouts, and the company participates in the annual Dinner with a Scientist event at Pleasanton schools. Roche is also involved in the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, with Brown serving on the Advisory Board since 2014.

For more information about Roche, please visit www.roche.com.