Roche Tissue Diagnostics will soon have more space to boost production of its cancer-detecting instruments and tests after cutting the ribbon on a new, 60,000-square-foot building in Marana on Monday.
The new building, on West Tangerine Road just east of Interstate 10, is next door to a distribution center of about the same size that opened in 2015.
After equipment is installed, Roche plans to move all of its instrument manufacturing operations to the new building from its main campus in Oro Valley, allowing more room there to manufacture test kits used in the companyâs diagnostic instruments.
About 140 manufacturing workers out of its current workforce of about 1,800 at its main campus at Oro Valleyâs Innovation Park, about 14 miles east of the Marana site, will move to the new Marana building by the end of January, Roche said.
Jill German, who leads the Tucson-area operation as head of Roche Tissue Diagnostics, said the expansion was needed as the demand for cancer testing increases.
Jill German, who leads the Tucson-area operation as head of Roche Tissue Diagnostics, talks to guests at the new instrument manufacturing facility in Marana.
âWith the new building, we are going to be able to expand our instrument manufacturing, which is tremendously important because there is a continued, growing need around the world,â German told a crowd of local officials and employees.
She noted that 14 million patients are diagnosed with cancer annually worldwide, and the companyâs diagnostics support some 26 million patients.
The new building also will allow the company to manufacture more cancer test kits at its Oro Valley campus, where 19,000 square feet is now devoted to making instruments, German said.
âWeâre really thrilled to have everything related, and every person related to instrument manufacturing on this campus, so we can better serve our customers,â she said.
Construction on the new building began in May 2021. Roche acquired the finished factory building for $19 million from Institutional Property Advisors, part of Marcus & Millichap.
Altogether, Roche is investing about $44 million in its Oro Valley and Marana campuses.
Roche Tissue Diagnostics will increase production of its cancer-detecting instruments and tests in a new, 60,000-square-foot building in Marana. The new building is next door to a distribution center of about the same size that opened in 2015. Roche plans to move all of its instrument manufacturing operations to the new building from its main campus in Oro Valley. Video by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star
In May, Roche unveiled the Employee Forum, a two-story, 45,000-square-foot building at the Oro Valley site that features a conference center, an expansive cafeteria, a gym, wellness center and meeting rooms.
Roche has steadily expanded its local operations since arriving in the Tucson area in 2008 when it acquired Ventana Medical Systems.
Ventana developed and marketed a line of automated tissue slide-staining instruments based on technology invented by University of Arizona pathologist Dr. Tom Grogan in the 1980s.
