NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Princeton, NJ-based drug development services company Covance announced yesterday that it has purchased an undisclosed minority stake in the proteomics-based pharmaceutical services company Caprion Proteomics.
Under the agreement, Covance will use Caprion as its exclusive proteomic discovery provider and will act as the exclusive contract research organization distributor for Caprion’s proteomic biomarker services.
The move is aimed at augmenting the biomarker services Covance offers its pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug development customers. The biomarker discovery, validation, and deployment efforts are aimed at improving drug discovery, approval, and monitoring — spanning proof-of-concept studies to clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance.
Covance also announced that it intends to establish a Biomarker Center of Excellence, which will focus on biomarker testing and validation, at its Greenfield, Ind., campus. Former Pfizer scientist Thomas Turi, who was recently hired as vice president of biomarkers for Covance, will lead the new center.