Exhibit 99.1
Thursday November 27, 2007
Press
Release
SOURCE: eResearchTechnology, Inc.
eResearchTechnology (eRT) Agrees to Acquire the Centralized ECG
Business of Covance
Covance and eRT Enter into Exclusive Marketing Agreement to
Offer eRT’s Cardiac Safety Services to Covance’s
Clients for 10 Years
PHILADELPHIA, November 27, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ —
eResearchTechnology, Inc. (eRT), (Nasdaq: ERES - News
), a leading provider of technology and services to the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries,
announced today that it has agreed to acquire the centralized ECG
business of Covance Inc. In addition, Covance and eRT have entered
into an exclusive ten-year marketing agreement to supply
eRT’s centralized cardiac safety services to Covance’s
clients. It is expected that the acquisition will close on or
before November 28, 2007.
“By acquiring the centralized cardiac services of Covance,
eRT is furthering its commitment as a leader in the cardiac safety
field. The scale, expertise, and ancillary technology benefits that
will be derived from the acquisition will allow us to provide
better and more cost-effective services to our valued clients and
to the drug development industry,” said Dr. Michael
McKelvey, President and CEO of eRT. “By engaging in this
long-term strategic relationship with the world’s largest
publicly-traded CRO, eRT is looking to extend its global leadership
position in the area of cardiac safety.”
“Covance remains fully committed to providing our clients
with integrated drug development solutions, including critical
cardiac safety data in clinical projects,” said Joe Herring,
Chairman and CEO of Covance. “Under the new marketing
arrangement, we believe our clients will benefit from eRT’s
industry-leading centralized ECG services. The transaction also
allows Covance’s management team to focus more attention on
growing our service offerings in the larger markets we
serve.”
The
companies disclosed that eRT will make a cash payment of
$35.2 million and may pay approximately $14 million in
additional compensation based upon eRT’s potential
realization of revenue from the backlog transferred and from new
contracts secured through Covance’s marketing activities.
Under the terms of the marketing agreement Covance will exclusively
use eRT as its provider of centralized cardiac safety services for
a ten-year period.
eRT will
continue to collaborate with all of its other key CRO, Phase I,
Academic Research Centers, and other strategic partners to promote
speed, accuracy, and reliability of data collection and reporting
and quality study conduct for their clients.
eRT will
adjust its previously issued Q4 2007 revenue guidance of
$27 million to $28.5 million
