LabCorp’s Covance Drug Development business celebrated the opening of its new R&D Center in Shanghai, China, which is now its largest facility in the Asia Pacific region.
 
“We entered China in 1998 and have grown our breadth of services, scientific capabilities and therapeutic expertise progressively, building our operations to meet global standards and requirements,” said John Ratliff, chief executive officer, Covance. “Today we are the only provider to offer comprehensive R&D services from early development through commercial solutions in China, as well as globally. Our Shanghai R&D Center continues our investment in China, bringing professionals and teams together to serve both the burgeoning Chinese pharmaceutical and biotech industry, as well as global biopharmaceutical clients working in the region. I’m proud to dedicate this new facility on behalf of all our colleagues in China, who apply their talents and passion to develop solutions for our customers and for the patients who benefit from our mission to improve health and improve lives.”
 
The R&D Center occupies 12,000 square meters in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park of Shanghai’s Pudong District. It doubles Covance’s capacity to serve customers with clinical development and commercialization solutions, bioanalytical services and central laboratory services. Covance’s Early Development services, including safety assessment, metabolism and lead optimization, will remain at Covance’s facility on Kangxin Road in the Shanghai International Medical Zone in close proximity to the R&D center.
 
Honggang Bi, corporate vice president of Covance and general manager, China “It’s an exciting time to be at the heart of pharmaceutical R&D in China,” said Bi. “The government has identified pharmaceutical innovation as a national strategy, with a program of reforms and regulations that has ignited innovation and accelerated development at both a national and global level. The inauguration of our R&D Center in Shanghai signals our long-term commitment to this exciting and growing industry.”