Covance

Covance logo
Type	Public (NYSE: CVD)
Industry	Contract Research Organizations Pharmaceutical
Founded	1968 as Environmental Sciences Corporation; 1996 as Covance
Headquarters	Princeton, New Jersey, United States; facilities in 60+ countries
Key people	Chairman and CEO: Joseph L. (Joe) Herring;
Products	Nonclinical Development (Toxicology, Research Products, Analytical services Clinical Development (Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical, Central Labs Periapproval & Market Access Nutritional testing and analysis Antibody products and services
Revenue	US$1.962 billion (2009)
Net income	US$175.882 million (2009)
Employees	11,000+ (2012)
Website	www.covance.com

Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD), with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is a contract research organization (CRO) providing drug development and animal testing services. According to its website, it is one of the largest companies of its kind in the world, with annual revenues of over $2 billion, and over 11,000 employees in more than 60 countries.^[1] It provides the world's largest central laboratory network, and employs a global team of clinical trial professionals and cardiac safety experts.^[2] It became a publicly traded company after being spun off by Corning Incorporated in 1996.^[3] In 2011 it was listed as one of the top 100 employers by the Diversity Employers Magazine.

Under the name Covance Research Products Inc., based in Denver, Pennsylvania, the company also deals in the import, breeding and sale of laboratory animals. It breeds dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, non-human primates, and pigs, and runs the largest non-human primate laboratory in Germany.^[4] The company became the subject of controversy following allegations in 2003–2005 by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that non-human primates were being abused in its laboratories in Germany and the United States. No violations of the law were found by the authorities in the first case, and a small fine was levied in the second. In response, the company drew up a new welfare code to guide its treatment of laboratory animals.^[5]

History[link]

Covance's origins go back to 1968, when Environmental Sciences Corporation – which manufactured equipment related to laboratory animals – opened for business in the basement of a former grocery store in Seattle, Washington. In 1972 it purchased and took the name of Hazleton Laboratories, a contract laboratory that conducted toxicology testing. In 1977 Corning Glass Works purchased a stake in Hazleton. According to material on the Funding Universe website, by 1982 Hazleton had become the largest independent biological testing company and life sciences laboratory in the United States, as well as the largest manufacturer of laboratory equipment in the world. The company carried out toxicology tests on animals of drugs, cosmetics, pesticides, and industrial chemicals, and bred rhesus monkeys and beagles for its own labs, as well as for chemical and drug companies, hospitals, universities and government agencies. Funding Universe writes that it also offered chemical analysis of new compound products for various industries, tested chemicals for gene mutations, and carried out research with monoclonal antibodies.^[6]

In 1989 Corning Glass Works purchased G.H. Besselaar Associates, which conducted clinical trials to help drugs gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration, and Hazleton purchased Microtest Ltd., a molecular toxicology center in York, England. Corning Glass Works then changed its name to Corning, and created Corning Lab Services, which included Besselaar and Hazelton. In 1991 and 1992 Corning Lab Services acquired SciCor and Philadelphia Association of Clinical Trials; in 1993 Hazleton, Besselaar, and SciCor were combined, becoming Corning Pharmaceutical Services, then Corning Life Sciences. In April 1996 Corning spun off its lab testing and pharmaceutical services, creating two new companies, Quest Diagnostics and Covance, the latter with a head office in Princeton, New Jersey. By 1998 Covance had net revenues of $731.6 million and a net income of $48.6 million.^[6] By 2012 it had annual revenues of over $2 billion, and over 11,000 employees in more than 60 countries.^[1]

Focus and expansion[link]

Headquarters Covance Inc., Princeton, New Jersey

The company's primary focus is serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. As part of its clinical and non-clinical development services, it provides testing services to the environmental, food, and nutritional-supplement industries, and provides custom antibody products and services to the research community for neurological disorders. It also offers cell-type-specific marker antibodies for neuroscience; suites of products for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease; and an online antibody store, including phospho-specific and secondary antibodies.

The company provides commercialization services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical-device companies. Reimbursement and health economics consulting services are offered through its “Market Access Services” division,^[7] and post-approval services are provided through the company’s periapproval services group.^[8] Covance's Nutrition division provides food and dietary supplements analysis services.^[9] In 2009 Covance and Kellogg announced that Covance will provide analytical chemistry, microbiology, and stability testing for Kellogg products, a deal valued at $42 million.^[10]

Covance continued its expansion with acquisitions of drug-development companies. In August 2005 it acquired GFI Clinical Services, an 80-bed clinical pharmacology business, from West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.^[11] In May 2006 it acquired Signet Laboratories, Inc., a provider of monoclonal antibodies used in the research of cancer, infectious disease and neurodegenerative disease.^[12] In August 2008 it purchased early drug development facilities in Greenfield, Indiana, from Eli Lilly for $50 million; in a contract valued at $1.6 billion, Covance agreed to provide Eli Lilly with drug development services for 10 years. It also planned to provide services to other pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients at the Greenfield site.^[13]

Covance Research Products[link]

A division of the company, Covance Research Products, Inc. (CRP), based in Denver, Pennsylvania, offers antibody products and antibody-development services to the research community. CRP also deals in the import and sale of laboratory animals. According to its website, CRP breeds and sells dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, non-human primates, and pigs. It has also bred and trademarked new breeds of animals, including the "Mini-Mongrel" dog. The company also imports wild-caught primates. Covance's animal-testing programs and facilities are AAALAC-accredited, ISO 9001:2000-registered, OLAW-assured, and USDA-research registered.^[14] According to the company, CRP programs and facilities are overseen by attending staff veterinarians and AALAS-certified technicians.^[15]

Animal health and welfare[link]

Ebola virus[link]

In December 1989 a number of cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were imported from Mindanao Island in the Philippines with the Ebola virus to Covance's Hazleton Research Products' Primate Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia. The company was using monkeys there to test cosmetics and drugs, according to The Washington Post. The virus was confirmed in one monkey and suspected in others among a group of 100.^[16] In March 1996 two macaques that had been shipped to Hazleton in Alice, Texas, tested positive for the Ebola virus from a group of 100 obtained from the same supplier.^[17] The strains were not infectious to humans, and no human illnesses were reported.^[18]

Allegations of primate abuse[link]

Münster, Germany[link]

In 2003 the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) sent a German investigative journalist, Friedrich Mülln, into the Covance facility in Münster, Germany's largest primate-testing center, where he filmed undercover for five months.^[19]

The footage was shown on German public television in December 2003. Nature reported that it showed animal keepers dancing with half-anaesthetized monkeys, making their heads move to the rhythm of the music.^[19] It also showed staff handling the monkeys roughly and shouting at them. The monkeys were seen living isolated in small wire cages with little or no natural light and no environmental enrichment, with high noise levels caused by staff shouting and playing the radio, and undergoing surgery with no post-operative care.^[20] In response, Covance maintained that clips showing different technicians working in different buildings had been edited together, resulting in a sequence of events that did not take place. The company also said there was group housing and pair housing for some monkeys, but the BUAV chose not to show that. Covance said they planned to upgrade the housing to comply with future European Union guidelines.^[21]

Jane Goodall, a primatologist, described the monkeys' living conditions as horrendous. Another primatologist, Stephen Brend, argued that using monkeys in such a stressed state was "bad science," and that trying to extrapolate useful data in such circumstances was an "untenable proposition."^[20] The environment minister for North Rhine-Westphalia asked the public prosecutor to investigate, and said that if the allegations were borne out, the company would lose its licence to keep primates.^[19] According to the European Biomedical Research Association, a lobby group, the authorities inspected Covance and insisted that the company install video cameras to monitor staff working with primates. Covance appealed through the courts, which ruled that video monitoring would infringe the rights of the staff. The public prosecutor's office viewed the film and questioned witnesses, and concluded that Covance "had not rendered themselves liable to prosecution" and that the state veterinary officer "had not failed in his supervisory duties."^[21]

Vienna, Virginia, United States[link]

A monkey in a restraint tube filmed by PETA inside Covance, Vienna, Virginia, 2004–2005

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) found similar conditions in Covance's Vienna, Virginia, lab when it sent an undercover investigator to obtain a job there as a technician from April 2004 to March 2005.^[22] In June 2005 Covance filed a lawsuit in the United States against PETA and the investigator for fraud, breach of employee contract, and "conspiracy to harm the company's business by deceitfully infiltrating and videotaping the ... facility."^[23] The company filed a parallel lawsuit in England in an attempt to stop PETA showing the tape; the British judge called the footage "highly disturbing," and ruled that there was a legitimate public interest in the material being shown. Covance and PETA agreed to a settlement that resulted in no payment to Covance, and with PETA allowed to continue to publish the video.^[24] PETA accepted a five-year ban on attempts to infiltrate Covance facilities.^[23]

Covance announced in March 2006 that inspections by the Food & Drug Administration had "resulted in no findings to substantiate any claims made against the facility." Inspections by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) resulted in 16 citations in April 2006. The USDA declined to give details; according to Covance the violations ranged from "administrative issues to scope of veterinary authority." The company agreed to pay a settlement of $8,720.^[25]

New code[link]

In response to the controversy, Covance issued a statement undertaking to observe a number of principles, including treating the animals in its care with respect, abiding by all applicable laws and regulations, employing alternatives where appropriate, minimizing animal discomfort and stress, training employees, and encouraging them to report any misconduct.^[26]

See also[link]

• International primate trade
• Laboratory animal sources
• List of Ebola outbreaks
• Nafovanny
• Non-human primate experiments

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Benz, Kathy & McManus, Michael. "PETA accuses lab of animal cruelty", CNN, May 17, 2005.
• British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (video). "Poisoning for Profit", accessed April 26, 2012.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Known Cases and Outbreaks of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, in Chronological Order", accessed October 4, 2008.
• Clemons, Donna J. et al. "Safety and Efficacy Evaluation using Nonhuman primates", in Abee, Christian R. Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research: Biology and Management. Academic Press, 2012.
• Clinical Trials Today. "Covance, Lilly Deal Grows on CRO Industry", August 8, 2008.
• CNN. "Breeder wants his monkeys spared", April 18, 1996.
• Cohn, D'Vera. "Deadly Ebola Virus Found In Va. Laboratory Monkey;Animals Sent to Reston From Philippines", The Washington Post, December 1, 1989.
• Covance. "About Covance", undated.
• Covance. "Animal Welfare Statement", undated.
• Covance. "Covance announces conclusion of U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture Inspections of its Vienna, VA facility", March 31, 2006.
• Covance. "Covance Prevails in PETA Lawsuit; Court Enters Order Requiring PETA to Comply With Ban on Infiltration", press release, PR Newswire, undated.
• Covance. "Periapproval Services", undated.
• Covance. "Market Access Services", undated.
• Covance Research Products. "About CRP", undated.
• Covance. "Investor Relations at Covance", undated.
• Covance Research Products. "Primates", undated.
• Derdak, Thomas and Pederson, Jay P. International Directory of Company Histories. St. James Press, 2000, Volume 30, published as "Covance History", fundinguniverse.com, undated.
• Europäische Koalition zur Beendigung von Tierversuchen. "Inside Covance: BUAV/ECEAE launches first ever undercover investigation in an animal testing laboratory in Germany", press release, December 9, 2003.
• European Biomedical Research Association. "Covance cleared of primate charges", 2004.
• Flores, Matt. "Monkey ebola virus likely not harmful to humans", San Antonio Express News, April 17, 1996.
• In-Pharma. "Covance under fire in Germany", December 19, 2003.
• Just-food. "US: Kellogg, Covance sign food testing deal", December 2, 2009.
• Owen, Marna. Animal Rights: Noble Cause Or Needless Effort?. Twenty-First Century Books (USA Today), 2009.
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (video). "Covance: Undercover Investigation in Virginia", April 26, 2004 – March 11, 2005.
• Pfister, Bonnie. "Firm fined $8,720 after PETA video", Associated Press, April 1, 2006.
• Rollin, Pierre E. et al. "Ebola (Subtype Reston) Virus among Quarantined Nonhuman Primates Recently Imported from the Philippines to the United States", The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 179, Supplement 1. "Ebola: The Virus and the Disease," February 1999.
• Schiermeier, Quirin. "Primate lab faces closure threat over mistreatment charge", Nature, 427, 4, January 1, 2004.
• TechAgreements.com. "Corning/covance Spin-off Agreement", accessed October 1, 2008.
• Technology Networks. "The Geomics and Proteomics Information portal - Coavance Acquires Signet Laboratories", June 1, 2006.
• Texas Department of State Health Services. "TDH Schedules Briefing on Investigation into Monkeys with Ebola", April 15, 1996.
• The New York Times. "COMPANY NEWS; Corning-Hazleton", January 3, 1987.
• The New York Times. "Business Briefs", March 30, 1991.
• The Washington Post. "Local briefing", June 24, 2005.
• Wagman, Bruce A.; Waisman, Sonia S.; and Frasch, Pamela D. Animal Law: Cases and Materials. Carolina Academic Press, 4th edition, 2009.

Further reading[link]

• Official site
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Known Cases and Outbreaks of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, in Chronological Order", 12 October 2011.
• Covance. "2011 Annual report".
• Covance Laboratories Inc v. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, et al, Chancery No. 2005–2590 (Va. Cir. Ct., Fairfax City, June 3, 2005.
• Covance Laboratories Ltd, et al v. Covance Campaign, et al, Claim Nom 5C-00295, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, June 16, 2005.
• Mirowski, Philip and Van Horn, Robert. "The Contract Research Organization and the Commercialization of Scientific Research", Social Studies of Science, Vol. 35, No. 4 (August 2005), pp. 503-548.

v t e Animal testing Main articles Animal testing Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing on invertebrates Animal testing on frogs Animal testing on non-human primates Animal testing on rabbits Animal testing on rodents Animal testing regulations History of animal testing History of model organisms Laboratory animal sources Toxicology testing Issues Animal rights Animal welfare Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Biomedical research Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Great Ape research ban International trade in primates Controversial experiments Brown Dog affair Britches Cambridge University primates Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss Companies Charles River Laboratories, Inc. Covance Harlan Huntingdon Life Sciences Laboratory animal suppliers in the United Kingdom Nafovanny Shamrock Farm Groups/campaigns Americans for Medical Progress American Association for Laboratory Animal Science American Association for the Advancement of Science Boyd Group British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection Dr Hadwen Trust Foundation For Biomedical Research National Anti-Vivisection Society People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) ALF Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Primate Freedom Project Pro-Test SPEAK Research Defence Society SHAC Stop Sequani Animal Testing Writers/activists Colin Blakemore Carl Cohen Gill Langley Ingrid Newkirk Neal Barnard Jerry Vlasak Simon Festing Tipu Aziz Categories Animal testing Animal rights

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The Walls are an Irish rock band. They were formed in 1998 by two ex-members of The Stunning.

Members[link]

• Steve Wall
• Joe Wall
• Carl Harms (Guitar/Keyboards) (left February 2004)
• Rory Doyle (Drums)
• Jon O'Connell (Bass) (joined February 2004)

Biography[link]

1998–2000[link]

Brothers Steve and Joe Wall (previously of The Stunning) returned to Ireland after a two-year failed label stint in London. Their Camden housemate Carl Harms joined the band on guitar and keyboard duties. Drummer Rory Doyle joined soon afterwards. They set up their own label, Earshot Records (later changing it to Dirtbird Records) and recorded and released a string of singles. A remix of one of the album tracks, "Bone Deep", clicked with radio and became a nationwide hit. Many of the songs have featured on a number of TV series and feature films such as Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).

2001–2004[link]

The Walls heard rumour of a second Slane Castle date for U2 (as the first concert had sold out in hours). They sent four copies of their album to the band. Bono loved it and offered The Walls a support slot. That day the band played to their biggest crowd to date – around 80,000 people. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" was their next single. That June they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers. They spent the next year gigging while building their own studio in Dublin.

In February 2004, original member Carl Harms decided to leave the band to make his own record. They recruited bassist Jon O’Connell, who had just 2 weeks to learn all the songs before a two week tour of the new EU accession states: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" also featured on the EA Sports soundtrack for the UEFA Euro 2004 official licenced game.

2004 - 2006[link]

For the next album, the band went to Studio Black Box in France to record with producer and ex-The Frames guitarist David Odlum. Originally scheduled for a release date in September 2004, The Walls decided to hold their album until the new year. U2 were releasing How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb that autumn and according to Steve "we thought that it would be a fair and gentlemanly gesture to stand back and give them a fair crack of the whip, so to speak".^{[citation needed]}

In October 2004, they released a taster - "Drowning Pool" - a blistering, spleen-venting, blues explosion, 2min 52sec long. It took people by surprise and divided opinion - exactly what the band wanted. They supported Bob Dylan to a capacity crowd in Galway that summer and played a storming set that showed there were changes afoot in The Walls sound. They christened the album New Dawn Breaking after the final track on the record. It went straight into the Irish charts at No. 5 in its first week of release in June 2005 and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

2007[link]

The band kicked off 2007 with a gig in Dubai and are presently negotiating gig offers in France, Italy, the Czech Republic and China. They also supported Crowded House on their Australian comeback tour before retreating into their studio to work on album number three.

2010 - 2012[link]

In 2010, the double A-side "Carrying The Fire"/"Phantom Power" was released. Following this, in March 2011, the "Bird In A Cage" EP was released, of which the title track was revealed to also be on the bands forthcoming album "Stop The Lights", which is to be released in 2012. Following this announcement, the band's new single "Stop The Lights" was released in January 2012. The band are currently using the innovative "Fund It" in order to finish their third album. The welcome newcomer Kevin Crowley from Newcastle West playing the spoons.

Discography[link]

	"To the Bright and Shining Sun" (2002) noicon From the 2005 album " New Dawn Breaking".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Studio albums[link]

• Hi-Lo (released May 2000).
• New Dawn Breaking (released June 2005) (reached No. 5 in Irish charts)
• Stop The Lights (released 2012)

Singles and albums[link]

• "The Night I Called It A Day" (Single, released Feb 1999)
• "Broken Boy" (Single, released Sept 1999)
• "Something's Wrong" (Single, released Apr 2000)
• Hi-Lo (Album, released May 2000). A remix of one of the album tracks, Bone Deep, was popular in Ireland. Some songs featured on TV series and feature films: Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).

• "To the Bright and Shining Sun" (Single, released 2002) reached No. 11 in the Irish charts.
• "Drowning Pool" (single, released 2004)
• New Dawn Breaking (Album, released June 2005) reached No. 5 in Irish charts and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

• "Carrying the Fire" / "Phantom Power" (double-A sided single, released Jun 2010)
• "Bird In A Cage EP" (4 Track EP, released Mar 2011)

Cover versions[link]

• Cover version of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1
• Cover version of Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2
• Cover version of U2's "With or without you" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 3

Career highlights[link]

• Supported U2 at Slane Castle, 2001
• Supported Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2002
• Supported Bob Dylan, Galway, 2005
• Supported Crowded House, Australia, 2007

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official band website, contains free MP3s; gig info, photos, Walls shop, press releases etc.
• The Walls at MySpace, contains some sample MP3s.