Covance to Expand Presence in China with New Shanghai Central Laboratory and Relocate Beijing Office to Support Global, Regional Clinical Trials

Princeton, NJ – January 24, 2007 – Covance (NYSE: CVD) today announced that it will open a dedicated central laboratory in Shanghai, China, to further strengthen the company’s global network of full-service central laboratories and meet the growing demand for clinical trials conducted in China. In addition, to accommodate the growth of its clinical trial management services in China, Covance has announced that in February it will relocate its existing clinical development office in Beijing to the Derun Building in Beijing’s Central Business District.

The new purpose-built 13,000-square-foot central laboratory will be owned and operated by Covance, and located in the Zhangjiang Hi-Technology Park in Pudong, Shanghai. The facility is expected to be fully equipped, staffed, and ready to support clinical trials by the fourth quarter of 2007 with central laboratory testing and specimen management services.

With its new Shanghai central laboratory, Covance will enhance its clinical trial services available to sponsors by adding a fifth high-quality laboratory to its global network. Covance’s central laboratories use the same technical platforms, methods and procedures to ensure the same level of quality laboratory data regardless of laboratory location.

“As the world’s largest central laboratory, Covance is committed to meeting our clients’ growing need for access to high quality laboratory data in all regions of the world as clinical trials increasingly become more global and complex,” said Deborah Tanner, President of Covance Central Laboratory Services. “The new Shanghai facility is particularly strategic as China represents one of the largest growth areas in clinical development.”

According to IMS Health, a market intelligence company, China is expected to become a top five market for pharmaceutical development by 2010. Home to 23 percent of the world’s population, China offers many benefits for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies conducting clinical trials, including treatment naive patients, low costs, shortened timelines for clinical trials and positive patient attitudes. Some of the most common diseases in China include cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, viral disease, asthma/COPD and arthritis.

China and the Asia Pacific region represent an area of significant growth for Covance, including the recent quadrupling of the company’s central laboratory space and testing capabilities in Singapore.

In Asia Pacific, Covance provides full-service, integrated clinical trial capabilities that combine clinical trials and central laboratory services, including the region’s broadest portfolio of laboratory testing capabilities with central laboratories in Singapore; Sydney, Australia; and, later this year, in Shanghai, China.

More than 200 Covance employees are located in Asia Pacific, offering established relationships with local investigators, opinion leaders, and regulatory agencies. Covance has managed more than 550 studies in Asia Pacific and offers CAP certification of its central laboratory in Singapore and NATA certification of its central laboratory in Australia. In Shanghai, Covance currently works with Huashan Hospital Center of Laboratory Medicine which maintains CAP certification.

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 billion, global operations in more than 20 countries, and more than 8,000 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.

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 an 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. Covance and the Covance are registered service marks of Covance in the United States and other countries.

Ron Lee
Covance, Inc.
210 Carnegie Center
Princeton, NJ 08540
netpr@covance.com
1800-268-2623
http://www.covance.com

This release was published on openPR.