Covance opens companion diagnostics laboratory

LabCorp’s Covance has opened a new companion diagnostics laboratory as is prepares for an increasing demand for precision medicine – a market expected to reach $112.62bn by 2025.

The dedicated companion diagnostics laboratory leverages Covance’s drug development experience and LabCorp’s complementary commercialization abilities.

The new laboratory is part of a multi-use facility in Morrisville, NC. The facility also includes a genomics and molecular pathology laboratory and an FDA-approved nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer.

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(Image: Business Wire)

With the new laboratory the company is preparing for increasing client demand, Sue Maynard a LabCorp representative told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.

According to a recent report, the global precision medicine market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 11.2% over the next decade to reach approximately $112.62bn by 2025.

In 2016 alone, we participated in more than 60 companion diagnostic programs supporting 145 clinical protocols,” Maynard explained.

The company’s companion diagnostics capabilities include applied genomics, next-generation sequencing, anatomic pathology and histology, flow cytometry and clinical immunoassays, as well as preclinical and exploratory biomarker development.

Maynard said there are currently 25 people at the laboratory who are dedicated to the development of companion diagnostics.