PRINCETON, N.J., April 26, 2012 — Covance Inc., a leading provider of drug development services, and BML, Inc., a leading Japanese laboratory testing company, today announced the expansion of the Covance-BML Clinical Trial Laboratory (CB Trial Lab) in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture to enhance the capacity and capabilities in the region. The companies, which opened the lab together in 2010 as part of a five-year agreement, will launch several new expansion-related services this month.
“The expansion of the CB Trial Lab speaks to both the success of our affiliation with BML and the growing drug development relationships we have built with our clients in Japan and across the Asia-Pacific region,” said Jonathan Koch, Global General Manager, Covance Central Laboratory Services.
“This investment is an important step in growing our relationship with Covance and allows us to offer clients a wider range of services in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” said Kazuta Fukuda, President, BML.
The lab expansion includes increasing the size of the original facility by 50 percent, while adding new testing platforms, equipment and additional sample storage space. Specifically, new laboratory testing platforms have been added to enhance the capacity of the CB Trial Lab to manage the growing demand for in-country testing services. These new service offerings in the areas of immunoassay, flow cytometry, and protein chemistry will speed results to physicians conducting clinical trials for these critical testing parameters.
The CB Trial Laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and maintains CDC lipid certification as well as National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP) Level 1 certification.
About Covance Inc.
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 $2 billion, global operations in more than 30 countries, and more than 11,000 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.
About BML
BML, founded in 1955 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, provides a wide range of laboratory testing from biochemical and hematological tests to specialty tests such as cellular immunological and DNA genetic analyses. BML operates efficiently and economically using in-house developed automation systems named “Frontier” and “Symphony.” In addition, BML has developed a proprietary “Electronic Patients Charts” network system to support total medical care, which is all-inclusive medical information system for the next generation. For more information about BML and its services, please visit BML’s website at http://www.bml.co.jp .
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, trends concerning clinical trials in Japan, 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.
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