Covance reported strong earnings for the second quarter, with revenue jumping 14 percent to $404 million. The future also looks good. “Continued robust net orders of $481 million helped drive our backlog up 25.9 percent year-on-year to $2.5 billion which positions us for accelerated growth,” said Joe Herring, chairman and CEO. “Early Development net revenue growth was again very strong at 22.7 percent and operating margins increased both year-on-year and sequentially to 25.6 percent, as demand for our toxicology and chemistry services remains buoyant.”

Liquent, a provider of regulatory software solutions, announced the early findings of its 2007 Liquent Regulatory Affairs Trends Survey. The survey concentrates on four key areas: technology usage trends including both submission publishing software and other desktop software; document management system usage; regulatory outsourcing trends; and regulatory trends, including the use or future use of the electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD). Jim Nichols, Liquent’s vice president of product strategy and marketing said, “It is very rewarding to have been ahead of the game in anticipating the likely demand for an eCTD viewer, which four in ten respondents to this year’s survey plan to adopt in the next two years. We are perfectly positioned with Liquent InSight Viewer, which directly addresses this need.”

Chairman and CEO Jim Walker of Octagon Research Solutions, a clinical trial technology suite, announced the formalization of a partnership agreement between Octagon and Kestrel Consultants. The partnership arose out of a project in which Octagon and Kestrel collaborated to provide a top biopharmaceutical company with a methodology and automating technology for managing and tracking clinical data standards. Kestrel contributed its proprietary methodology utilizing “Data Lifecycle Plans;” Octagon translated the business requirements for configuration and implementation of the ViewPoint platform to automate these processes.

Encorium Group, which designs and manages complex clinical trials and patient registries, announced the signing of a $1.7 million contract with a Japanese biotechnology company for a Phase II clinical trial of a new drug for major depressive disorder (MDD). Encorium will provide multiple services including program consulting, project management, site management and monitoring, data management, biostatistical support, and medical writing. Revenue recognition will begin during the current third quarter and continue on a proportional performance basis over the life of the contract as services are performed. Said Kai E. Lindevall, Encorium Group’s president, international operations: “We anticipate that this clinical trial will be an important starting point for other potential long-term collaborations in this very influential segment of the biopharmaceutical industry.”

An FDA safety review of Avandia confirms elevated cardiac risks that were first identified by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the New York Times reports today. The FDA report appears to have been leaked to the paper; other news organizations don’t have it. Wall Street observers and experts quoted in the article predict Avandia sales will plummet but that the FDA will allow the drug to remain on the market after an advisory meeting next week. GSK still maintains the diabetes blockbuster has no major safety issues. Meanwhile, Merck, according to this story in Business Week, is bracing for new NEJM revelations and legal rulings related its handling of Vioxx. Business Week also has a profile of the new CEO at Merck; the magazine says Merck is now routinely involving its marketing people in research planning—and designing clinical trials with competitors’ products to provide more real-world answers to clinicians.

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