COVANCE AND VARIAGENICS ACHIEVE MILESTONE IN PHARMACOGENOMICS COLLABORATION
Covance offers new genotyping services to enable more effective clinical trial design and increase the success rate of new drugs |
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Princeton, New Jersey, and Cambridge, MA, April 6, 2000 — Covance (NYSE: CVD), a global drug development company, and VARIAGENICS, INC., a full-spectrum pharmacogenomics company, today announced that they have achieved the first milestone in their collaborative agreement. In the first of a series of genotyping assay transfers, VARIAGENICS has completed 17 validated genotyping assays for incorporation into clinical trial designs for Covance's pharmaceutical customers. These assays will be used to identify genetic variances, which predict responses of patients to specific classes of drugs.
In 1999, Covance announced that it had entered into an agreement with VARIAGENICS, INC.
to fund the development of novel pharmacogenomic testing technologies. Under the agreement, VARIAGENICS and Covance aim to collaborate on genotyping assays in key therapeutic areas, including CNS diseases, cardiovascular disorders, cancer and a range of drug-metabolizing enzymes, and to provide in excess of 50 different genotype targets to pharmaceutical clients. Covance is the only contract research organization which can directly license VARIAGENICS' technologies for providing genetic testing services in clinical trials.
"We anticipate that the identification of genetic variation during the drug development process will increase the success rate of new drugs in clinical trials and ultimately enhance their market value," said F. John Mills, M.D., Ph.D., President, Covance Clinical Support Services. "Our collaboration with VARIAGENICS provides Covance with an excellent foundation on which to build a genomics services franchise."
Taylor J. Crouch, President and CEO of VARIAGENICS, added, "This is our first milestone and deliverable to Covance since we began our collaboration in August of 1999. Based on recent discoveries, Covance and VARIAGENICS already have begun working on joint projects with the pharmaceutical industry."
Covance is uniquely positioned to integrate genomics into the drug development process. The Company operates the world's largest central laboratory dedicated to clinical trials, which include state-of-the-art DNA isolation and storage facilities. At these facilities, Covance has banked millions of blood and tissue samples and thousands of DNA samples obtained from clinical trial patients for genetic, viral or immunologic analyses.
Covance (NYSE: CVD), with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies with 1999 revenues of $829 million, operations in 17 countries, and approximately 7,500 employees worldwide. Covance's purpose is to lead advancements in drug development through science, service, and shaping solutions.
VARIAGENICS, INC., through its proprietary technology platform, identifies clinically important variances (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) in genes that affect drug action and applies this information to the discovery and development of new pharmaceutical products, diagnostic products, and disease-management practices. VARIAGENICS, a privately held, venture-backed company located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, filed a form S-1 Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2000.
Information in this press release contains "forward-looking statements." These statements are based upon current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including without limitation, the continued demand for genotyping services, the ability of VARIAGENICS to develop pharmacogenomic testing technologies and the ability of Covance to exploit these technologies. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially are discussed in Covance's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports. |
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