Biomarker Team Develops Validation Testing of Biomarkers

A biomarker testing company has formed an expert team to expedite biopharmaceutical customer need for high-throughput assay services.

Covance (Princeton, NJ, USA) has announced that a panel of top scientists will provide technical and scientific expertise for customers in the selection, development, validation, and testing of biomarker assays across the drug development continuum

Through our market research, we have identified a significant need that exists in drug development for high-throughput biomarker development services, said Deborah Tanner, president, Covance central laboratory services. Our biomarker expert team offers decades of experience in biomarker testing and validation, which combined with our high-throughput capabilities will significantly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our clients' drug development programs. Covance's biomarker expert team will enhance communication on all biomarker-related services while supporting the ongoing testing and validation of biomarker assays, including work on custom biomarker assays.

Covance offers nearly all biomarker-testing needs directly or in collaboration with its qualified referral laboratories. In addition to providing globally the highest throughput of good laboratory practice (GLP) and non-GLP biomarker services from its central laboratory, bioanalytic and toxicology laboratories, Covance offers bioimaging capabilities and cardiac-related biomarkers for both animals and humans.

Clinically useful biomarkers are required to inform therapeutic decision-making regarding candidate drugs and related indications to help bring new medicines to patients faster. Effective use of biomarkers leads to faster decisions to continue or suspend a drug's development, saving pharmaceutical manufacturers money by reducing late stage failures while improving predictability of success.

Pharmaceutical companies are using biomarkers for nearly every new drug candidate, and it is predicted that within the next ten years biomarkers will be a standard aspect of drug development for any novel candidate. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made biomarkers central to the Critical Path initiative it launched in March 2004 with the aim of modernizing and streamlining medical product development.


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