- New offices in Chile and Peru, expansion of Argentina office increase access to patients to reduce drug development timelines for biopharmaceutical companies -

PRINCETON, N.J., April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD) today announced the recent opening of new clinical development offices in Santiago, Chile, and Lima, Peru, and the expansion of the company's Buenos Aires, Argentina office. These latest office openings further extend the company's global clinical development presence to increase patient access and reduce clinical development timelines.

Covance has been providing clinical trial support in Latin America since 1997 with the company's first office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Operations in Latin America expanded quickly with the organization of an extensive and highly-trained network of regional clinical trial monitors. The new clinical offices located in Santiago and Lima will support staff in Chile and Peru, including Covance's regional network of field-based clinical research associates throughout Latin America.

"Our strategy is to target areas for qualified patient populations and the most qualified investigators as we selectively expand our presence in key metropolitan centers in emerging regions such as Latin America," said Katie Margules, Covance's senior director of project management in Latin America. "Our focus continues to be on delivering outstanding drug development and building stronger strategic relationships with our clients."

The new offices and expanded facilities in Latin America will help Covance expedite the execution of clinical studies with a full range of services, and build strategic relationships with investigators, sites, and regulatory authorities in a region known for its strong potential to contribute to high-quality global clinical trial conduct.

"We are committed to continuing to build our infrastructure across Latin America, expanding current facilities, and opening further new clinical offices to increase Phase III clinical trial productivity," said Wayne Langlois, Covance's vice president and general manager of clinical development services, Americas. "These countries offer qualified patient populations and investigators which help reduce clinical development timelines for our biopharmaceutical clients."

Covance offers clinical development services, including Phase I to IV clinical trial support in more than 55 countries which include emerging markets across Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. With a full-suite of services to take a drug through all stages of drug development, Covance offers extensive clinical and therapeutic expertise, global reach, proactive project management, and strong investigator site relationships to consistently deliver high quality data on time.

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 $1.5 billion, global operations in more than 25 countries, and more than 9,600 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.