| OPENING OF NEW MULTI-CAPABILITY EUROPEAN FACILITY STRENGTHENS COVANCE'S GLOBAL POSITION |
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Princeton, New Jersey, June 4 — Covance Inc. [NYSE: CVD] strengthened its position as the worldwide leader in pharmaceutical packaging services through the official opening today of its recently acquired 90,000 square-foot facility in Horsham, West Sussex, UK. This site will provide clinical services packaging which will be fully integrated with other Covance packaging plants in the US and Europe and will also serve as the company's European multi-capacity site.
The Horsham facility was acquired by Covance in October 1996 at the same time as the purchase of CRS Pacamed, a Swiss-based company renowned for its high-tech operations and its pioneering of robotics in the clinical packaging industry. The former pharmaceutical manufacturing facility has undergone extensive renovations creating a state-of-the-art packaging operation.
The facility will also be the European headquarters for Covance's European Health Economics and Outcomes Research and Periapproval Services subsidiaries and creates an additional UK site for Clinical Phase II and III activities.
"One of the most exciting aspects of this facility is that the packaging operations in Horsham will be fully integrated with those in Basel, Switzerland and Allentown, Pennsylvania in the US," said Jim Utterback, Corporate Senior Vice President and Group President, Covance Global Ventures. "We will now be able to meet our customers' design, packaging, and distribution needs on a global basis. We are investing heavily in new technology and common systems within our packaging unit which will further our capability for fast turn around, flexibility, and on time performance."
The facility is located 15 minutes from Gatwick International Airport. Packaging and distribution services begin immediately.
"The combination of CRS Pacamed's specific expertise and Covance's comprehensive experience and worldwide scope give us a competitive edge." said Heinz Stamm, who will serve in a dual role as the general manager of both the Horsham and Basel facility.
The site features two major buildings: an 80,000 square-foot building that will house the clinical trials packaging operation, as well as offices; a 10,000 square-foot building provides both open-plan and individual office space. The 26 acre site also provides significant expansion capabilities to meet future growth expectations. Because of its proximity to an international airport and major highways, this site is ideal for distributing clinical trial materials to investigators.
Covance, with headquarters in Princeton, NJ, is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive biopharmaceutical development service companies, with 1996 revenues of approximately $495 million, operations in more than 15 countries, and more than 5,500 employees worldwide. Covance combines superior development experience, expertise and global presence to provide preclinical, health economics, central laboratory, biomanufacturing, clinical packaging, and clinical and periapproval services to the world's pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies.
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