Covance Enters Into a Biomarker Alliance With Rules-Based Medicine, Inc.
November 18 2009 - 8:15AM
PR Newswire (US)
- Continues to Strengthen Integrated Biomarker Capabilities
Spanning the Drug Development Continuum - PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 18
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD), a leading
provider of drug development services, announced today that it
entered into a biomarker alliance and services agreement with
Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. (RBM), a leading provider of multiplexed
protein biomarker testing to the pharmaceutical industry. Subject
to the terms of the agreement, Covance will use RBM as its
exclusive third-party provider of multiplexed protein biomarker
testing services, and RBM will use Covance as its exclusive
referral source for laboratory testing services. "RBM's unique
biomarker technology platform, combined with Covance's recent
acquisitions and alliances in biomarkers and genomics, strengthens
our ability to provide comprehensive biomarker discovery,
verification, validation, and deployment in both the preclinical
and clinical setting," said Deborah Tanner, Corporate Senior Vice
President and President of Covance Central Laboratory Services.
"These innovative technologies are critical tools for drug safety
and efficacy testing, which help enable our clients to make better
decisions and accelerate their drug development programs." "Covance
recognizes that our clients have an unmet need for comprehensive
biomarker capabilities," said Dr. Tom Turi, Covance Vice President
for Biomarkers. "Given this unmet need, and the emerging high
growth biomarker services market, Covance recently established a
Biomarker Center of Excellence in Greenfield, Indiana. In addition,
we made a series of acquisitions and alliances in the genomics,
proteomics, and biomarker testing fields that will enable us to
provide our clients with the largest and most integrated biomarker
capability in the CRO industry. This new alliance with RBM,
combined with our purchase of Merck's gene expression laboratory in
Seattle, Washington, and the purchase of a minority equity stake in
Caprion Proteomics rounds out our comprehensive biomarker
offering." "Comprehensive, accurate, and reproducible biomarker
testing can improve drug development programs by stratifying
clinical trial subjects and providing sensitive measurements of
drug safety and efficacy," said Craig Benson, RBM president and
chief executive officer. "By leveraging Covance's market-leading
central laboratory and world-class scientific talent, along with
RBM's multiplexing capabilities and broad biomarker menu, we aim to
help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies enhance the
effectiveness and success of their clinical trials." About Covance
Covance, with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the
world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services
companies with annual revenues greater than $1.7 billion, global
operations in more than 25 countries, and more than 10,000
employees worldwide. Information on Covance's products and
services, recent press releases, and SEC filings can be obtained
through its website at http://www.covance.com/. About Rules-Based
Medicine, Inc. Rules-Based Medicine (RBM) is a CLIA-certified
biomarker testing laboratory that solves complex therapeutic
development, diagnostic and treatment challenges with innovative
products and services. The Company's proprietary Multi-Analyte
Profiling (MAP) platform makes the drug discovery and development
process more efficient and effective by providing pre-clinical and
clinical researchers with reproducible, quantitative, multiplexed
immunoassay data for hundreds of proteins from small sample
volumes. Building on the MAP platform, RBM has developed a host of
solutions including: a self-contained whole-blood culture system
that brings reproducibility and simplicity to ex vivo immune
response measurement; novel and companion diagnostic tests for
complex diseases and therapies; therapeutic-specific MAPs custom
designed for late-stage clinical development; and new assays for
the early detection of renal damage. More information about RBM is
available via the worldwide web at
http://www.rulesbasedmedicine.com/. Statements contained in this
press release, which are not historical facts, such as statements
about prospective earnings, savings, revenue, operations, revenue
and earnings growth and other financial results are forward-looking
statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All such forward-looking
statements including the statements contained herein regarding
anticipated trends in the Company's business are based largely on
management's expectations and are subject to and qualified by risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation,
competitive factors, outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical
industry, levels of industry research and development spending, the
Company's ability to continue to attract and retain qualified
personnel, the increased use of biomarkers in clinical trials, the
fixed price nature of contracts or the loss of large contracts,
risks associated with acquisitions and investments, the Company's
ability to increase order volume, the pace of translation of orders
into revenue in late-stage development services, and other factors
described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company undertakes no duty to update any
forward looking statement to conform the statement to actual
results or changes in the Company's expectations. DATASOURCE:
Covance Inc. CONTACT: Media, +1-609-419-2060, or Investors,
+1-609-452-4807, both for Covance Web Site: http://www.covance.com/
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