Covance Inc.
| Covance logo | |
| Company type | Public (NYSE: CVD) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Contract Research Organizations Pharmaceutical |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Princeton, New Jersey, USA; facilities in 60+ countries |
Key people | Chairman and CEO: Joseph L. (Joe) Herring;
Corporate Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: William E. Klitgaard; Executive Vice President and Group President, Clinical Development Services: Richard Cimino; Corporate Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary: James W. Lovett; Corporate Senior Vice President, Market Access Services and Nutritional Chemistry and Food Services Executive Vice President and Group President, R&D Laboratories: Deborah L. Tanner[1] |
| Products | Nonclinical Development (Toxicology, Research Products, Analytical services Clinical Development (Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical, Central Labs) |
| Revenue |  US$2.10 billion USD (2011) |
| US$132 million USD (2011) | |
Number of employees | 11,000+ (2011) |
| Website | www.covance.com |
Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, Covance, Inc. (NYSE: CVD) is a biological research and food testing company. Covance is the second-largest biopharmaceutical research and development company worldwide. In 2011, Covance, Inc. reported annual Revenue of $2.10 billion, with employees in more than 60 countries, and more than 11,000 employees worldwide.[2] In 2011, the company was listed as one of the top 100 employers by the Diversity Employers Magazine.
History
Hazelton Laboratories’ Early Years
In 1968, Environmental Sciences Corp. opened in the basement of what had at one time been a grocery store in Seattle, Washington. At that time, the company served as a manufacturer for equipment used in the care of laboratory animals. Environmental Sciences Corp. grew in size and assets. In 1972, it purchased a research company called Hazelton Laboratories and adopted its name. In 1977, Corning Glass Works purchased a small stake in the company.[3]
Hazelton Laboratories’ Continued Growth
Hazelton Laboratories continued its growth and expanded its work to include research testing of products such as medications, cosmetics, pesticides and chemicals. In addition, the company was involved in researching gene mutations, manufacturing laboratory equipment and breeding animals to be used in laboratory testing. By 1982, it was the largest biological testing in the United States and laboratory equipment manufacturing company in the world. During the 1980s, Hazelton Laboratories sold off its manufacturing and breeding subsidiaries, focusing on its work in biological and chemical research. "Covance Laboratories".
The Formation of Corning Lab Services, Inc.
Before 1989, Corning Glass Works had been a manufacturer of glass and related products. That changed when the company purchased G.H. Besselaar Associates, a company that specialized in conducting the required research necessary for pharmaceutical companies to receive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for their drugs’ use in humans. The company changed its name to Corning Inc. at that time and formed a subsidiary called Corning Lab Services Inc., which included Besselaar and Hazelton"Hazelton Labs/Besselaar Associates".
Corning Pharmaceutical Services
During the 1990s, Corning Lab Services acquired a number of companies, including Microtest Ltd., Philadelphia Association of Clinical Trials Inc. and SciCor SA. By 1993, the company was a leader in contract biological and chemical clinical research. It was also working in the field of molecular toxicology. Corning Lab Services consolidated Hazelton Laboratories, Besselaar Associates and SciCor into one company, which it called Corning Pharmaceutical Services, which allowed the company to work from the testing phase through early marketing of pharmaceuticals. By 1994, Corning Pharmaceutical Services was earning net revenue of $19.6 million, and the parent company of Corning Lab Services was renamed Corning Life Sciences Inc."Covance".
Covance
Corning Life Sciences, during the mid-1990s, expanded its offerings to include biotechnology, cost effectiveness of drugs and diagnostic testing. After acquiring numerous best-in-class drug development companies, some with roots dating back to the 1940s, Corning spun off the businesses as one publicly traded, independent company, Covance, Inc. (NYSE: CVD) in 1997. The headquarters of the company was moved to New Jersey and the company continued to diversify. Throughout the late 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium, Covance began work on innovative methods of preclinical research, pharmaceutical packaging, cancer drug development and testing, and genetic variation drug development."Covance History".
Expansion
In November 1998, Berkeley Antibody was acquired by Covance Research Products , a division of Covance Inc. Berkeley Antibody Company provided custom antibody production, applied immunology, custom animal research, and preclinical evaluations.[4]
In September 2005, Covance acquired GFI Clinical Services from West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE: WST) and added to its Phase I capacity. Covance acquired the assets of the Evansville, Indiana-based clinical research unit for $5.7 million. The 80-bed facility became part of Covance Clinical Research Unit Inc., and was as Covance GFI Research.[5]
In May 2006, Covance acquired Radiant Research Inc. The Radiant acquisition included eight early development clinical sites performing Phase I/IIa clinical trial services. In May 2006, Covance also acquired certain assets and liabilities of Signet Laboratories, Inc.. Signet specializes in the development of monoclonal antibodies and diagnostic assays for cancer, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. Signet operations are part of Covance’s Early Development segment service offering.[6]
In August 2008, Covance signed an agreement with Eli Lilly that helped transform Lilly’s R&D model. Covance acquired Lilly’s 450-acre early drug development campus in Greenfield, Indiana. In addition, Covance provides Lilly with a broad range of drug development services through a 10-year contract valued at $1.6 billion. Covance assumed ownership of the site and operations in October 2008. Lilly transferred responsibility to Covance for its non-GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) toxicology, in vivo pharmacology, quality control laboratory, and imaging services. In addition, the contract includes a committed level of clinical pharmacology, central laboratory, GLP toxicology studies, and clinical phase II-IV services.[7]
In December 2008, Covance purchased a minority stake in the proteomics-based pharmaceutical services company, Caprion Proteomics. Caprion became Covance’s exclusive proteomic discovery provider, and Covance is the exclusive contract research organization distributor for Caprion’s proteomic biomarker services. The move augmented Covance’s biomarker services. [8]
In March 2009, the company acquired Swiss Pharma Contract, a 50-bed clinical research company based in Basel, Switzerland, expanding its clinical pharmacology presence in Europe.In July 2009, Covance entered into a definitive agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. for genomic analysis services. Merck committed to a five-year $145 million contract to purchase genomic analysis services from Covance. In addition, Covance acquired Merck’s Seattle-based Gene Expression. [9]
Covance opened a Nutritional Chemistry and Food Safety Laboratory in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 2010 after signing a seven-year agreement with Kellogg Company to consolidate much of the food company's analytical chemistry, microbiology and stability testing with Covance.[10]
Sanofi-Aventis signed a 10-year agreement with Covance in which the CRO will provide France’s largest pharmaceutical company with a wide range of research and drug development services. Under the partnership, Covance purchased Sanofi’s laboratory sites in Porcheville, France, and Alnwick, U.K., and will maintain employment at the sites for at least five years. The labs will provide a mix of chemistry, drug metabolism, toxicology and chemistry manufacturing and control (CMC) services.[11]
Locations
Covance has offices in the following countries: [12]
| Europe | North America | Asia/Pacific | Central/South America | Middle East |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Canada | China | Argentina | Israel |
| Switzerland | United States | India | Peru | |
| Slovakia | Japan | Chile | ||
| Belgium | Australia | Brazil | ||
| Romania | Taiwan | |||
| Hungary | Singapore | |||
| Ukraine | South Korea | |||
| Spain | ||||
| Russia | ||||
| Germany | ||||
| France | ||||
| Czech Republic | ||||
| Italy | ||||
| The Netherlands | ||||
| Bulgaria | ||||
| Poland |
Business Units
Early Development
Preclinical Services
Covance’s preclinical services include toxicology services, pharmaceutical chemistry, nutritional chemistry and related services. Preclinical laboratories are located in Madison, Wisconsin; Chandler, Arizona; and Greenfield, Indiana, in the United States and Harrogate, United Kingdom; Alnwick, United Kingdom; Muenster, Germany; Porcheville, France, in Europe and Shanghai, China. Additionally, the company has bioanalytical laboratories in the United States in Indianapolis, Indiana; and Chantilly,Virginia.
Toxicology
The preclinical toxicology services include in vivo toxicology studies, which are studies of the effects of drugs in animals; genetic toxicology studies, which include studies of the effects of drugs on chromosomes, as well as on genetically modified mice; and other specialized toxicology services. Pharmaceutical Chemistry With pharmaceutical chemistry services, the metabolic profile and bioavailability of drug candidates is determined. Additionally laboratory testing services to the chemical and agricultural chemical industries is provided. A range of services is provided to agricultural chemical manufacturers to determine the potential risk to humans, animals and the environment from plant protection products such as pesticides.
Nutritional Chemistry and Food Safety
The nutritional chemistry and food safety services support the food, nutriceutical and animal feed industries with offerings including nutritional analysis and equivalency, nutritional content fact labels, microbiological and chemical contaminant safety analysis and stability testing.
Research Products
Custom polyclonal and monoclonal antibody services are provided for research purposes and purpose-bred animals for biomedical research. The purpose-bred research animals Covance provides are required by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, university research centers and contract research organizations as part of government-mandated preclinical animal safety and efficacy testing. Covance also has a dedicated animal biosafety level 2 (ABSL-2) containment vivarium to provide full-service vaccine testing.
Discovery and Translational Services
Covance provides lead optimization services including custom immunology and antibody services, metabolism studies and pharmacokinetic screening as well as non-GLP toxicology, in vivo pharmacology, imaging services and biomarker services. Bio-analytical Services The bio-analytical testing services help determine the appropriate dose and frequency of drug application from late discovery evaluation through Phase III clinical testing on a full-scale, globally integrated basis. Clinical Pharmacology Services Covance provides clinical pharmacology services, including first-in-human trials, of new pharmaceuticals at its five clinics located throughout the United States and its clinics in Leeds, United Kingdom, and Basel, Switzerland.
Late-Stage Development
Central Laboratory Services
Covance has four central laboratories, one in each of the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and China, that provide central laboratory services, including biomarker services, to biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers. The company also offers pharmacogenomic testing capabilities.
Clinical Development Services
Full management of Phase II and III clinical studies are offered in a number of therapeutic areas in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Over the last several years, clinical development services has continued its expansion into Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and South America.
Periapproval Services
Periapproval trials are studies generally conducted after a drug has successfully undergone clinical efficacy and safety testing and the New Drug Application has been submitted to the FDA. Covance provides a range of periapproval services, including: Treatment Investigational New Drug applications; Phase IIIb clinical studies; Phase IV clinical studies; product withdrawal support services and other types of periapproval studies such as post-marketing surveillance studies.
Market Access Services
A wide range of reimbursement and healthcare economics consulting services, including outcomes and pharmacoeconomic studies, reimbursement planning, reimbursement advocacy programs, risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) services, registry services and specialty pharmacy services are provided as a part of the Covance Market Access portfolio.[13]
Animal Testing
The use of animals in scientific research is required by law and is part of the research and development process for all new medicines for humans and animals. Covance maintains that it takes very seriously its ethical and regulatory responsibilities to treat research animals with care and respect. The company has a Code of Respect for Animals in Research and Development on its website.[14]
In the history of Covance, there have been allegations of animal abuse. More information about this can be found here:[[Covance controversies]]
References
- ^ [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-
histories/Covance-Inc-company-History.html "Covance, Inc.--Company History"]. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help); line feed character in|url=at position 40 (help) - ^ "Covance About Us". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance History".
- ^ "Berkeley Antibody Company". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance Increases Its Phase I Clinical Capacity With Acquisition Of GFI Research Center". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Aquisitions for Covance (CVD)". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Lilly Sells its Greenfield, Indiana, Operations to Covance". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance Buys Caprion Proteomics Equity Stake". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance to Acquire Seattle-Based Gene Expression Laboratory from Merck & Co" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance, Kellogg Team Up for Food Safety". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance and Sanofi-aventis ink landmark 10-year, $2.2 billion R&D outsourcing partnership". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance Locations". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Covance 2011 Annual report" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-04-26.
- ^ "Animal Welfare". Retrieved 2012-04-26.
[[Category:Companies established in 1997]