The home of Roche's diagnostics business in the U.S. is slated for an upgrade. The Swiss drugmaker ($RHHBY) is plotting a $300 million investment in the unit's Indianapolis headquarters over the next decade. The plans are yet another illustration of Roche's move toward pairing drugs with diagnostic tests that can identify patients most likely to benefit.
As InPharm reports, one of the first projects planned for the Indianapolis HQ is a new commercial education center where Roche Diagnostics customers can be trained in the use of its products. To drive the drug-and-diagnostic approach, test users not only need to know how to use the diagnostics themselves, but need to understand their importance in guiding drug therapy.
The more patients are tested and appropriately treated, the more successful treatment will be. It wouldn't hurt Roche's product sales, either. With targeted drugs among the more expensive new treatments, increasing volume delivers a big payoff.
Construction on the training center will start in the fall; the company expects it to evenutally train up to 1,500 people a year. Other projects planned for the Indianapolis campus include refurbishing existing buildings, buying manufacturing equipment and upgrading IT systems. The company expects to create 100 new jobs there by 2017.
- read the InPharm story