Roche, supplier of cancer diagnostic systems, is expanding in Marana

Roche Tissue Diagnostics is expanding in Marana with the addition of a 60,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art production building.

The new building, just east of Roche’s logistics and distribution facility at 9831 W. Tangerine Road, will house instrument and service production for the company, a leading global supplier of cancer diagnostic systems to the pathology market.

The company celebrated a groundbreaking this week with Roche Tissue Diagnostics President Jill German, vice president of global operations Himanshu Parikh, facilities vice president Terri Johnson, Marana Mayor Ed Honea and Town Manager Terry Rozema.

The project will allow Roche, formerly known as Ventana Medical Systems, to expand production of diagnostic assays, or tests, at the company’s main site in Oro Valley’s Innovation Park, the Swiss-based drug company said.

Completion of the new Marana building is expected sometime next year, when about 150 existing employees will move there. The company employs about 1,700 full-time and contract workers locally.

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For efficiency with production materials and flow, a 30-foot-long corridor will connect the new building to the current 60,000-square-foot facility near Interstate 10 and Tangerine Road, Roche said.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $43.5 million, which includes remodeling the company’s manufacturing building in Oro Valley, the company said.

Roche provides more than 250 cancer tests and associated instruments and technologies, impacting more than 27 million patients around the world annually.

Founded as Ventana Medical Systems Inc. in 1985 by University of Arizona pathologist Dr. Thomas Grogan, the company was acquired by Roche in 2008 in a deal worth $3.4 billion.