The first products from the company, founded in Basel in 1896, reached patients in Warsaw just four years later, in 1900. In 1928, the first production facility in Poland was established. The company experienced impressive growth in production and employment until the outbreak of World War II.
Like the rest of Polish society, Roche employees lived in extremely difficult conditions during the war. To support them, the company paid one-time bonuses and non-repayable loans, as well as purchased food products, selling them to employees at heavily reduced prices.