Covance and BioPontis Alliance Collaborate to Bridge Drug Development

Covance and BioPontis Alliance Collaborate to Bridge Drug Development Gap

Exclusive Translational Medicine Relationship Links Academia and Industry

 PRINCETON, N.J., February 2, 2012 - Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD) today announced the signing of a three-year, exclusive integrated drug development agreement with BioPontis Alliance to manage early development of scientific discoveries from academia. The agreement provides that Covance will be the exclusive provider to BioPontis Alliance of drug development services, including discovery support, preclinical, bioanalytical, CMC, clinical, central labs and commercialization.

Sourcing discovery science through collaborative relationships with leading research universities and other institutions, BioPontis Alliance identifies and develops early stage discoveries and technologies, providing the medical industry with efficient access to preclinical innovation.  In this unique early development model, Covance will integrate and manage the services required to move a compound from lead optimization into the clinic, providing the scientific and operational continuity that reduces the feasibility gap between academic intellectual property and human proof of concept.

"Designing customized solutions that meet the unique needs of each client is the hallmark of our partnering philosophy," said John Watson, Chief Commercial Officer and President, Strategic Partnering, Covance. "This collaboration creates a new way for Covance to leverage our scientific expertise and broad portfolio of drug development services to advance the promising science of academia and deliver greater medical innovation to the biopharmaceutical industry."

"Critical to accelerating the availability of industry-ready compounds was the selection of a development partner who possessed the scientific, medical and regulatory expertise to provide end-to-end drug development services," said Richard Basile, CEO and Principal of BioPontis Alliance. "We are excited to take this unprecedented step forward with Covance as our translational development partner. Together, with our university and industry partners, we have established a new development model to fuel biopharma's early stage pipeline and accelerate the availability of new medicines."

About Covance
 Covance, with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies with annual revenues greater than $2 billion, global operations in more than 30 countries, and more than 11,000 employees worldwide. Information on Covance's products and services, recent press releases, and SEC filings can be obtained through its website at http://www.covance.com.

About BioPontis Alliance LLC
 BioPontis Alliance LLC is an asset-based investment capital fund combined with a research and development company, a novel business model built to address the crisis of the eroding basis for new therapeutic products in the fields of oncology, neurology, inflammation and infectious diseases. BioPontis Alliance has unique agreements for economic and scientific sharing with leading biomedical academic research institutions from which novel discoveries are selected and has aligned its scientific development engine with leading pharmaceutical companies. BioPontis Alliance is based in Raleigh NC with additional locations on the East coast. Learn more about BioPontis Alliance at www.biopontisalliance.com.


Statements contained in this press release, which are not historical facts, such as statements about prospective earnings, savings, revenue, operations, revenue and earnings growth and other financial results are forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All such forward-looking statements including the statements contained herein regarding anticipated trends in the Company's business are based largely on management's expectations and are subject to and qualified by risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, competitive factors, outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical industry, levels of industry research and development spending, the Company's ability to continue to attract and retain qualified personnel, the fixed price nature of contracts or the loss or delay of large studies, risks associated with acquisitions and investments, the Company's ability to increase order volume, the pace of translation of orders into revenue in late-stage development services, testing mix and geographic mix of kit receipts in central laboratories, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, and other factors described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.

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