Covance

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Covance

Type	Public (NYSE: CVD)
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Princeton, New Jersey; facilities in 18 countries
Key people	N/A
Industry	Contract Research Organizations Pharmaceutical
Products	drug development services laboratory animals
Revenue	US$1.02 billion USD (2004)
Employees	7,000+ (2005)
Website	www.covance.com

Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD), formerly Hazleton Laboratories America, Inc., with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies, according to its own website, with annual revenues over $1 billion, global operations in 18 countries, and over 7,000 employees worldwide. It became a publicly traded independent business after being spun off by Corning, Inc. in 1997.

Under the name Covance Research Products Inc. (CRP), based in Denver, Pennsylvania, the company also deals in the import and sale of laboratory animals. It is the single largest importer of primates in the U.S. and the world's largest breeder of laboratory dogs. It owns two dog-breeding facilities, two primate centers and a rabbit-breeding facility.

The company is a leading provider of laboratory testing services to the environmental, food and nutritional supplement industries, as well as a provider of custom antibody products and services to the research community for neurological disorders. Covance offers cell type-specific marker antibodies for neuroscience and suites of products for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as an online antibody store including phospho-specific and secondary antibodies.

The company has been the subject of controversy following allegations of primate abuse in its laboratories in Germany and the United States, and in connection with a potential outbreak of the Ebola virus.

1 History of Covance
2 Treatment of laboratory animals
3 Ebola virus
4 Alleged primate abuse
- 4.1 Lawsuit
5 Charity
6 See also
7 Further reading

[edit] History of Covance

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Corning Incorporated acquired numerous best-of-class drug development companies, some with roots dating back to the 1940s. In January 1997, Corning spun off these businesses as one publicly traded, independent company called Covance Inc..

Today, from its corporate headquarters in Princeton, NJ, Covance has grown into one of the world's largest global drug development services companies. The company's primary focus is serving the pharmaceutical and biotech industries offering a broad range of services, from nonclinical research to clinical development to commercialization services.

[edit] Treatment of laboratory animals

As an extension of the Three Rs, Covance has established what it calls a "code of respect" to guide its employees in the treatment of laboratory animals. These state that employees will treat animals with respect; will honor the contribution animals make to lifesaving advances; will strictly follow all applicable laws and regulations; will employ alternative scientific methods to animal use where appropriate; will minimize animal discomfort; will follow the study protocol and good science; and will take steps to ensure that employees and processes meet these standards.

As part of the company’s Code of Conduct, Covance looks for alternative methods to animal research where appropriate. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Ebola virus

In November 1989 at the Hazleton (Covance) Primate Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia, lab monkeys were found to have carried Ebola virus from the Philippines. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intervened to eradicate the infected animals and burn the complex down, and thereby avoiding a potentially disastrous outbreak of Ebola which would have been fatal. Afterwards, in February 1990, a number of infected monkeys were shipped to Hazleton facilities in both Virginia and Texas. This strain was also found to be airborne. More Reston ebolavirus infected monkeys were discovered in 1992 in Siena, Italy and at the Texas Hazleton facility again in March 1996.

[edit] Alleged primate abuse

A monkey in a restraint tube filmed by PETA in Covance, Vienna, Virginia, 2004-5 [1]

In 2004, German journalist Friedrich Mülln, working undercover at the German Covance facility in Münster, Europe's largest primate-testing center, obtained photographs, video, and other evidence of the apparent abuse of monkeys and other non-human primates. The laboratory in Münster specializes in reproduction toxicology and primate toxicology, which includes testing on pregnant primates. The company is responsible for around half the primate experiments in Germany.

The undercover footage shows staff making monkeys dance in time to blaring pop music, handling them roughly, and screaming at them. The monkeys are kept isolated in small wire cages with little or no natural light, no environmental enrichment, and high noise levels caused by staff shouting and playing the radio. video

Primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall described the living conditions of the monkeys as "horrendous," and told the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) that to see them "crazed with boredom, and sadness probably, is deeply, deeply disturbing." Primatologist Stephen Brend told BUAV that using monkeys in such a stressed state is "bad science" and that trying to extrapolate useful data in such circumstances is an "untenable proposition." [2] People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) found similar conditions in Covance's Vienna, Virginia lab during an undercover investigation in 2004-5. [3]

Photograph taken by Friedrich Mülln

The ensuing publicity in Germany gave rise to the "Close Covance" (Covance Schliessen) animal rights campaign there, as well as campaigns launched in Britain by the BUAV, and in America by PETA.

[edit] Lawsuit

After parts of Mülln's footage were shown on German television and in major newspapers, Covance filed a lawsuit, leading a German court to forbid further distribution of the material. The publication ban led to major protests from animal-rights advocates and anti-censorship activists. A first ruling confirming Covance's claims was partially reverted by a higher court's ruling that the right of the public to be informed on the subject prevailed over the company's privacy rights. The video footage may now be displayed publicly, albeit not in the form of the existing television edition, but it may not be used by animal-rights groups.