Covance Establishes New Discovery & Translational Services Group

PRINCETON, N.J., May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD), a leading provider of drug R&D services, announced today that it has created a new Discovery & Translational Services group, which will integrate its discovery services, antibody products and immunology services, Biomarker Center of Excellence, and Genomics Laboratory. Leveraging its minority equity stake in Caprion Proteomics, Inc. and alliance with Rules-Based Medicine, Inc., Covance's Discovery & Translational Services group will offer clients a depth and breadth of drug discovery and biomarker services that is unmatched in the CRO industry.

"Increasingly our clients are looking for drug development companies that can provide a full spectrum of services and expertise from early drug discovery through late-stage clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance," said Joe Herring, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Covance Inc. "Through a series of strategic investments and alliances, we have enhanced our early-stage drug R&D capabilities and gained an impressive array of world-class talent and technologies in genomics, proteomics, biomarkers, and discovery services such as early safety and efficacy testing, in vivo pharmacology and imaging. As a result, Covance now has a comprehensive range of integrated services across the drug R&D continuum that can help clients make faster and more effective decisions about their portfolios."

Discovery & Translational Services will report to Deborah Tanner, Corporate Senior Vice President at Covance; President, Central Laboratory Services and President, Discovery & Translational Services. Said Ms. Tanner, "By uniting our discovery and translational services under one operating umbrella we can better leverage current capabilities, foster greater scientific and technical collaboration, and ultimately provide greater value to our clients through a portfolio of services that parallel their drug development model."

Jonathan Koch has been appointed Vice President and General Manager, Discovery & Translational Services.  Mr. Koch most recently held the position of Vice President and General Manager for the Covance Greenfield, Indiana campus.

With its Discovery and Translational Services group Covance is uniquely positioned to provide clients with an integrated set of discovery capabilities and leverage a range of translational tools such as imaging, biomarkers and genomics across its broad portfolio of development services.  "Our goal is to generate data that yields more effective results for clients," said Dr. Tom Turi, Vice President, Science and Technology for Discovery and Translational Services.  "Through our enhanced discovery services we are able to provide clients with decision-driving information earlier in, and throughout, the drug development process."

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 $1.8 billion, global operations in more than 30 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 www.covance.com.

Statements contained in this press release, which are not historical facts, 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 fixed price nature of contracts or the loss of large contracts, and other factors described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Covance Inc.