COVANCE'S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HONORED BY SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Global drug development company will provide broad range of services to rapidly growing Latin American biopharmaceutical industry |
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Princeton, New Jersey, July 16, 1998 — Covance Inc. [NYSE: CVD] today announced that two of its information technology systems — Drug Management and Data Review — were included in the Smithsonian Institution's Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology. The collection recognizes leaders who use information technology in innovative ways to benefit society.
"We are honored that Covance's application of information technology has been recognized for innovation and excellence by this venerable institution," said Chris Kuebler, Chairman and CEO. "Our information technology is designed to expedite the drug development process for our pharmaceutical clients and, ultimately, accelerate the availability of innovative medical therapies to patients around the world."
Technology for Improving Management of Drug Flow
Covance's Drug Management System (DMS) offers an important competitive advantage for pharmaceutical clients. The application of DMS has allowed Covance to significantly improve clinical trial inventory management and has reduced inventory waste by as much as 40% in more than 150 clinical trials to date.
Speeding Up the Drug Development Process
Covance's Data Review System, also known as "Sherlock", helps speed the process of new drug development and regulatory approval by inspecting clinical data for inconsistencies and ambiguities. These problems are identified by programmed diagnostics and automated investigator queries, and corrections are made online. In addition, Sherlock is flexible enough to take on the varied clinical trial designs of the company's clients; in fact, this system has already been used in more than 50 major drug development projects and over 200 separate clinical trials for some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. This system allows data generated by multicenter/multinational clinical trials to be analyzed faster and more efficiently.
Covance was nominated for the award by Sybase, Inc., whose relational database system is the server for both the Drug Management and Data Review systems. The Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology is housed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. The Collection is the result of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award.
Covance, with headquarters in Princeton, NJ, is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive contract drug development service companies, with 1997 revenues of approximately $590 million, operations currently in 17 countries, and more than 6,300 employees worldwide. Covance's purpose is to lead advancements in drug development through science, service, and shaping solutions. |
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