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Contract research organization

Labcorp Drug Development is a contract research organization headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina, providing nonclinical, preclinical, clinical and commercialization services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Formerly called Covance, the company is part of Labcorp, which employs more than 70,000 people worldwide. Labcorp Drug Development offers services in the preclinical, clinical and post market phases of drug development, the product life cycles for medical device and diagnostics and development services paired with regulatory support for the chemical testing and crop protection industries. Labcorp Drug Development claims to be a global leader in nonclinical safety assessment, clinical trial testing and clinical trial management services. In 1989, Corning Glass Works purchased G. H. Besselaar Associates, which conducted clinical trials to help drugs gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and Hazleton purchased Microtest Ltd., a molecular toxicology center in York, England. Corning Glass Works then changed its name to Corning, and created Corning Lab Services, which included Besselaar and Hazelton. In 1991 and 1992, Corning Lab Services acquired SciCor and Philadelphia Association of Clinical Trials; in 1993, Hazleton, Besselaar, and SciCor were combined, becoming Corning Pharmaceutical Services, then Corning Life Sciences. On January 9, 1995, Corning Pharmaceutical Services announced the acquisition of National Packaging Systems, Inc., an Allentown, Pennsylvania based clinical trial packaging company; the company was renamed Corning National Packaging Inc.

After completing the spin off of Covance from Corning in 1996, Covance began operations as an independent, publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in January 1997. By 1998, Covance had net revenues of $731.6 million and a net income of $48.6 million. In 1998, Covance acquired the Berkeley (California, US) Antibody Company. In 2000, Covance started a central laboratory in Singapore, building on clinical development services that they formed in Singapore in 1996. On February 14, 2001, Covance completed the sale of Covance Pharmaceutical Packaging Services Inc., later renamed Fisher Clinical Services, to Fisher Scientific International for $137.5 million. The net proceeds from the sale, approximately $110 million, were used to repay other Covance debt. In 2002, Covance acquired Virtual Center Laboratory B. V., which is now known as Local Laboratory Services. In August 2005, it acquired GFI Clinical Services, an 80 bed clinical pharmacology business, from West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. In 2006, Covance announced the acquisition of eight early phase clinical pharmacology sites of Radiant Research, Inc.
and later opened what was then the largest toxicology expansion in Madison, Wisconsin, US. In May 2006, it acquired Signet Laboratories, Inc., a provider of monoclonal antibodies used in the research of cancer, infectious disease and neurodegenerative disease. In 2007, Covance opened a Central Lab facility in Shanghai, China. In 2008, Covance acquired Eli Lilly’s Greenfield, Indiana campus and executed a 10 year service drug development service agreement with Lilly. Also, in 2008, Covance purchased a minority equity stake in Caprion Proteomics, known for proteomic biomarker services. In 2009, Covance acquired Merck's Seattle based Gene Expression Laboratory and entered into a five year, $145 million contract to provide Merck with genomic analysis services. In 2010, Covance and Sanofi Aventis created an outsourcing partnership, which, at the time was considered the largest between a contract research organization (CRO) and a pharmaceutical company. Covance also acquired sites from Sanofi Aventis in Porcheville, France and Alnwick, United Kingdom. In 2011, Covance acquired the assets of Signet Laboratories, Inc., a provider of monoclonal antibodies used in the research of cancer, infectious disease and neurodegenerative disease. In 2014, Covance acquired Medaxial, known for its market access consulting. On November 3, 2014, Laboratory Corporation of America purchased Covance for $6.1 billion. In 2016, Covance entered a five year strategic alliance with Global Specimen Solutions and the use of their specimen management product, GlobalCODE, among other software products. In 2017, Global Specimen Solutions, Inc. was listed as a Labcorp subsidiary. On August 31, 2017, Labcorp acquired global life sciences business, Chiltern, as part of its drug development services with Covance. The Chiltern acquisition included a subsidiary of Endpoint Clinical Inc and their interactive response technology (IRT) systems. In 2018, Labcorp sold the Covance Food Solutions business to Eurofins for $670 million. In 2018, Labcorp acquired Sciformix Corporation to add to the Covance service line with additional post commercialization services such as Safety & Risk Management, Clinical Research & Post Approval Support, Regulatory Affairs & Regulatory Operations, Real World Evidence & Market Access, and Technology Services. In 2019, Labcorp and Envigo reached an agreement for Covance to acquire Envigo's nonclinical research services business. Envigo purchased Covance's research products business.

Covance reports that it offers Lead Optimization Non GLP Toxicology, In Vivo Pharmacology, Nonclinical Imaging, Nonclinical Pathology, PK/TK Analysis and Reporting, and Immunology Services.

The company offers bioanalytical services in small molecule, biologics, translational biomarkers, and LC MS.

A division of the company, Covance Research Products, Inc. (CRP), based in Denver, Pennsylvania, offers antibody products and antibody development services to the research community. CRP also deals in the import and sale of laboratory animals. According to its website, CRP breeds and sells dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, non human primates, and pigs. It has also bred and trademarked new breeds of animals including the "Mini Mongrel" dog. The company also imports wild caught primates. Labcorp Drug Developments's animal testing programs and facilities are AAALAC accredited, ISO 9001:2000 registered, OLAW assured, and USDA research registered. According to the company, CRP programs and facilities are overseen by attending staff veterinarians and AALAS certified technicians.

Labcorp Drug Development says it offers General Toxicology Studies, Genetic Toxicology, Immunotoxicology, Nonclinical Pathology Services, Safety Pharmacology, Services, Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology, (DART) Studies, and SEND Standard for the Exchange of Nonclinical Data.

Labcorp Drug Development partners with pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies in various consulting and partnership agreements by offering drug development program management services, alliance management, early phase development solutions, Labcorp Drug Development MarketPlace, drug development consulting, access and strategy, and evidence generation.

Labcorp Drug Development supports companies with their clinical trials, which involves early clinical / Phase IIa, Phase IIb / III services, clinical data management analysis and reporting, regulatory services, and Phase IV solutions.

In the clinical testing space, Labcorp Drug Development says it offers services involving flow cytometry, a central laboratory, biomarker testing capabilities, companion diagnostics, genomics, vaccines, and immunotherapeutics.

In 2011, Labcorp Drug Development (then Covance) launched its Xcellerate platform as an informatics tool to help optimize clinical trial performance. In 2018, Xcellerate won industry recognition with the Scrip Award for Best Technological Development in Clinical Trials. In 2016, Labcorp Drug Development entered a five year strategic alliance with Global Specimen Solutions and the use of their specimen management product, GlobalCODE, among other software products. In 2017, Global Specimen Solutions, Inc. was listed as a Labcorp subsidiary.

Labcorp Drug Development also shares research on animal welfare topics, such as social housing of nonhuman primates.

In December 1989 a number of cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were imported from Mindanao Island in the Philippines with the Ebola virus to Covance's Hazleton Research Products' Primate Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia. The company was using monkeys there for research purposes, according to The Washington Post. The virus was confirmed in one monkey and suspected in others among a group of 100. In March 1996 two macaques that had been shipped to Hazleton in Alice, Texas, tested positive for the Ebola virus from a group of 100 obtained from the same supplier. The strains were not infectious to humans, and no human illnesses were reported.

In 2003 the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) sent a German investigative journalist, Friedrich Mülln, into the Covance facility in Münster, Germany's largest primate testing center, where he filmed undercover for five months. The footage was shown on German public television in December 2003. Nature reported that it showed animal keepers dancing with half anaesthetized monkeys, making their heads move to the rhythm of the music. In response, Covance maintained that clips showing different technicians working in different buildings had been edited together, resulting in a sequence of events that did not take place. The company also said there was group housing and pair housing for some monkeys, but the BUAV chose not to show that. Covance said they planned to upgrade the housing to comply with future European Union guidelines. Unreliable source: date=July 2023

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alleged similar conditions in Covance's Vienna, Virginia, lab when it sent an undercover investigator to obtain a job there as a technician from April 2004 to March 2005. Subsequent inspections by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) resulted in 16 citations in April 2006. The USDA declined to give details; according to Covance the violations ranged from "administrative issues to scope of veterinary authority." The company agreed to pay a settlement of $8,720. In June 2005, Covance filed a lawsuit in the United States against PETA and the investigator for fraud, breach of employee contract, and "conspiracy to harm the company's business by deceitfully infiltrating and videotaping the facility." The company filed a parallel lawsuit in England in an attempt to stop PETA showing the tape; the British judge called the footage "highly disturbing", and ruled that there was a legitimate public interest in the material being shown. Covance and PETA agreed to a settlement that resulted in no payment to Covance, and with PETA allowed to continue to publish the video.