The Arizona Republic
New Covance laboratory set to begin testing drugs
by Kerry Fehr-Snyder –
Mar. 27, 2009 12:00 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2009/03/27/20090327biz-covance0327.html Any week now, Covance Labs in Chandler will begin dosing laboratory
animals with drugs that could stop cancer, cure Alzheimer's disease
and repair metabolisms that have gone haywire.
The company recently completed its $175 million testing facility near
Chandler's airpark and will begin its first tests under contract for
pharmaceutical clients developing next-generation drugs.
"Let the record show Covance is open for business in Chandler,
Arizona," Covance CEO Joe Herring told about 100 guests Thursday at a
ribbon-cutting ceremony. "We are betting the entire company on this
facility."
Covance is hailed as one of Arizona's first major biotech players, and
economic boosters hope the company ushers in a new era for the state's
fledgling industry.
Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn said Covance's expansion into the city marks
a "key partnership with the life-sciences industry," adding that its
presence will "no doubt lead to others locating in Chandler."
Covance's entrance into the state marks its first Southwestern testing
facility. It also came after years of protests by animal-rights
activists that opposed testing on animals, which are often later
killed.
The Food and Drug Administration requires that drugs be tested on one
rodent and one non-rodent as part of its pre-clinical trial testing.
That typically means albino rats or mice, and beagles or monkeys.
Tests must prove that a drug is safe and effective in animals before
testing it on humans.
"It's not something you decide you want to do," Herring said of animal
testing after the event. "It's something the federal government
requires."
Covance houses specially bred mice, rats, beagles and monkeys in its
288,000-square-foot facility in south Chandler. That's one of the
reasons it didn't publicize Thursday's invitation-only ceremony ahead
of time.
"Covance has a well-established animal-care and usage policy," Herring
said. "Our being here today is a victory for patients."
Covance has played a role in testing one-third of all pharmaceutical
drugs on the market, said Wendel Barr, Covance's chief operating
officer. They include drugs to treat heart disease, diabetes,
Alzheimer's disease, life-threatening infections and even toenail
fungus.
"We may not have discovered the drugs, we may not have even made the
drugs, but we're a world-class research facility that made those drugs
a reality," Barr said.
Headquartered in Princeton, N.J., Covance considered 60 locations for
its Southwestern facility before settling on Chandler. After
protesters threatened to block a rezoning request for its first choice
on the Price Road corridor, the company swapped the land with another,
larger parcel by the airpark that already was zoned for industrial
use.
The move infuriated opponents, who filed a lawsuit in hopes of
blocking Covance from coming to the city, but lost.
The company has hired 60 workers so far and plans to hire up to 2,000
workers at build-out, possibly in 10 years, Herring said.
"When we plan to move into a community, we plan to stay here awhile," Barr said.
Its 288,000-square-foot building marks the first phase of construction
. It has two more phases planned depending on client demand for its
testing services.
The pharmaceutical industry grows by about 10 to 15 percent each year,
with about $75 billion a year spent testing new drugs, Herring said.
About one-fourth of that is spent with contract research-testing labs
such as Covance, but the percentage is expected to grow to about half
the total spent in the next few years, he said.
Chandler officials hope that Covance suppliers, and possibly its
clients, locate new facilities in the city or region. The company
already has two clients on the West Coast that plan to move their
contracts from other Covance facilities, including one in Madison,
Wis., to Chandler because it is easier to monitor testing closer to
their facilities.
Covance also plans to expand its work into human clinical trails by
testing blood samples and other biomarkers from doctors who work
directly with patients.