Roche Announces Direct Sales of Kapa Biosystems NGS Products in Canada

Increased customer access to Kapa NGS, HiFi kits through Roche Diagnostics Canada

WILMINGTON, Mass.--()--Roche (SIX:RO, ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) today announced that customers in Canada may now order its portfolio of Kapa Biosystems next-generation sequencing (NGS) products directly from Roche Diagnostics Canada. Kapa’s PCR and qPCR products will continue to be sold and supported by D-Mark Biosciences.

Roche Diagnostics Canada will sell NGS sample prep products such as KAPA HyperPlus, KAPA Stranded RNA-Seq with RiboErase, and KAPA HiFi Library Quantification Kit. Products that will be available from D-Mark include KAPA SYBR FAST, KAPA PROBE FORCE, and KAPA Mouse Genotyping, among others.

“Kapa’s acquisition by Roche provided us with a broader sales channel and the opportunity to sell directly to customers in some markets currently served by distributor partners,” said Trey Foskett, Vice President of Sequencing/Life Science Commercial Operations. “We intend to manage this transition in collaboration with our distributor, and believe this arrangement will allow us to work even more closely with our customers in Canada and deliver products and service that best address their needs.”

“We are excited to be adding these innovative products to our Sequencing portfolio,” said Ian Parfrement, President and General Manager of Roche Diagnostics Canada.

As of this week, customers may start ordering NGS and HiFi kits directly from Roche Diagnostics Canada. Customers may continue ordering these kits from their existing provider as well until June 24, 2016. For the full list of Kapa products sold by Roche Diagnostics Canada and D-Mark, see https://www.myroche.ca/mbKAPA.pdf.

About Kapa Biosystems

Kapa Biosystems is a life science reagents supplier that employs proprietary, directed-evolution technologies to optimize enzymes for next-generation sequencing (NGS), PCR, and real-time PCR applications. Kapa Biosystems offers a portfolio of high-performance products containing novel enzymes that confer significant advantages when compared to traditional wild-type enzymes. The company is based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, with a research, development, and manufacturing facility in Cape Town, South Africa. Kapa Biosystems was acquired by Roche in December 2015. For more information, please visit www.kapabiosystems.com.

KAPA is a trademark of Kapa Biosystems. Kapa Biosystems’ products are for Research Use Only; not for use in diagnostic procedures.

About Roche

Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives.

Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche the leader in personalised healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.

Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. Twenty-nine medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Roche has been recognised as the Group Leader in sustainability within the Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences Industry seven years in a row by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.

The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2015 employed more than 91,700 people worldwide. In 2015, Roche invested CHF 9.3 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 48.1 billion. 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.

Contacts

For Roche Diagnostics Canada
Marie-Élaine Guay, 450-686-3138
marie-elaine.guay@roche.com
or
For Kapa Biosystems
(Press only)
Nicole Litchfield, 415-793-6468
nicole@bioscribe.com

Release Summary

Roche announced that customers in Canada may now order its portfolio of Kapa Biosystems next-generation sequencing (NGS) products directly from Roche Diagnostics Canada.

Contacts

For Roche Diagnostics Canada
Marie-Élaine Guay, 450-686-3138
marie-elaine.guay@roche.com
or
For Kapa Biosystems
(Press only)
Nicole Litchfield, 415-793-6468
nicole@bioscribe.com