Roche Launches AnaemiaWorld.com in Recognition of World Kidney Day

Basel, Switzerland (ots/PRNewswire) -

- New global educational resources spotlight renal anaemia, a
common under-recognized complication of Chronic Kidney Disease

To help support health professionals who play a key role in
educating and managing patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD),
Roche today announced the launch of AnaemiaWorld.com, a major new
centralized online resource. AnaemiaWorld.com is believed to be the
first global Internet portal that features comprehensive information
on renal anaemia. It has been designed for nephrologists to help them
keep abreast of developments in managing patients with CKD and one of
its debilitating complications, renal anaemia.

Surveys have revealed that nearly nine out of ten nephrologists in
Europe believe Web-based resources are essential to their
professional practice, with nephrologists spending on average seven
hours a week online, half of it for professional purposes. In fact,
90% of nephrologists say "the Internet improves my clinical
capabilities and knowledge."(i)

"Renal anaemia is a complicated condition that is growing steadily
with the rising prevalence of chronic kidney disease," said Dr.
Philippe Van der Auwera, Head of Anaemia Management at Roche. "As a
leader in renal anaemia, we are committed to providing resource tools
like AnaemiaWorld.com that can help enhance greater understanding and
better management of renal anaemia."

In addition, Roche is the global sponsor of the first World Kidney
Day (WKD) Quiz that is online at www.worldkidneyday.org, that will
act as a benchmark for determining what the public knows about some
basic facts of chronic kidney disease. The WKD Quiz is available in
English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Greek.

About AnaemiaWorld.com

AnaemiaWorld.com features detailed information on chronic kidney
disease, its link to renal anaemia and issues related to the
management of the condition. As nearly 90 percent of nephrologists
believe the Internet plays a crucial role in enhancing their clinical
knowledge,(i) the site www.AnaemiaWorld.com includes useful
diagnostic and treatment tools, such as a glomerular filtration rate
(GFR) calculator, which doctors can use to determine a patient's
kidney function. AnaemiaWorld.com also provides the opportunity to:

-- View the most recent news about renal anaemia and find in depth
articles about the current issues in the field via a newswire feed;
-- Access global treatment guidelines;
-- Subscribe to a database to receive the most important and current
peer-reviewed kidney disease publications;
-- Source educational information for patients via a series of external
links; and
-- Review highlights from leading global congresses.

Roche is also simultaneously launching a handbook titled "Exposing
the Burden of Renal Anaemia," for medical and consumer journalists
that was developed and endorsed by a number of European
nephrologists.

The handbook for journalists serves as a quick and dependable
reference guide that provides information about the prevalence,
impact and the burden of renal anaemia worldwide. For information on
how to obtain a downloadable version of the Reporter's Guide, log on
to PR Newswire for Journalists site at
http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?option=home and provide
your username and password.

"As one of the editors of the Reporters' Guide, I am pleased that
it will now be a resource for reporters who track emerging health
care issues," said Iain Macdougall, M.D., Department of Renal
Medicine, King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom. "We live
in a world that is hungry for news and information, and sources that
can be relied upon."

About Renal Anaemia

Renal anaemia is caused when the kidneys fail to stimulate the
production of red blood cells, which transport the oxygen-carrying
protein, haemoglobin, throughout the body. Renal anaemia is present
in the early stages of CKD and becomes increasingly more severe and
more common as the disease progresses. In fact, as patients reach
end-stage renal disease, 90 percent of them will be affected by renal
anaemia. If left untreated, renal anaemia can undermine a patient's
quality of life, overall health and contribute to the development of
cardiovascular disease.(ii)

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's
leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of
pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech
company and an innovator of products and services for the early
detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group
contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health
and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in diagnostics and
drugs for cancer and transplantation, a market leader in virology and
active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases,
inflammation, metabolism and central nervous system. In 2006 sales by
the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 33.3 billion Swiss francs, and
the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.7 billion Swiss francs.
Roche employs roughly 75,000 worldwide and has R&D agreements and
strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority
ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Additional information
about the Roche Group is available on the Internet at www.roche.com.

(i) Taking the Pulse Europe v6.0, Manhattan Research, Nov. 2006
(ii) Exposing the Burden of Renal Anaemia - A Reporter's Guide, 2007
For further information, please contact:
Sheila Gies
Roche
Phone: +1-973-235-4347
Nicole Symon
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Phone: +1-212-445-8175
Web site: http://www.roche.com
http://www.AnaemiaWorld.com
http://www.worldkidneyday.org

ots Originaltext: Roche Pharmaceuticals
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Sheila Gies, of Roche, +1-973-235-4347; Nicole Symon, of Weber
Shandwick Worldwide for Roche, +1-212-445-8175