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Rapid Rx

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Drug-development services provider Covance Inc. (CVD) is helping biopharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) accelerate drug-development time lines. As part of the partnership, Princeton, N.J.-based Covance acquired Lilly’s preclinical research facility in Greenfield, Ind.

Covance CEO Joe Herring says the cost of conducting safety and efficacy tests in-house is high, and Covance’s goal is to transform the Greenfield site into an efficient, world-class contract research organization that can serve the entire biopharmaceutical industry. Andrew Dahlem, vice president of Lilly Research Laboratories Operations/LRL Europe, says that reducing the time it takes to get a medicine approved allows biopharmaceutical companies to 
reinvest in R&D. “These savings translate into direct cost savings to Lilly in excess of $5 million,” he says.

Herring notes that the partnership has been a win-win for both companies, adding that each gets to focus on what it does best for the good of patients. “It takes 12 years and more than $1 billion to bring one new medicine to market,” he says, adding that patent expirations and increasing regulatory demands add to the process. “There’s no silver bullet that can fix these challenges, but innovative partnerships that improve R&D efficiency can be one part of the solution.”