| 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, Nov. 27 /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, adding approximately
$1.5 to $2.0 million additional revenue as a result
of the transaction. Additionally,management adjusted
its previously issued Q4 2007 guidance for diluted earnings
per share of $0.09 to $0.11 downward by $0.02 loss per
diluted share to $0.07 to $0.09. The reduction in diluted
earnings per share is caused by transition costs associated
with the integration of operations of Covance Cardiac
Safety Services with that of eRT. For the full year
ending December 31, 2007, management reiterated its
guidance in which revenues expected to be around the
midpoint of the previously issued guidance of $95 million
to $103 million. Management adjusted its previously
issued guidance of $0.29 to $0.31 to $0.27 to $0.29
of earnings per diluted share.
Management anticipates the additional operations to
the Company will add approximately $18 million to $20
million in revenue and add $0.04 to $0.06 of earnings
per diluted share for the year ending December 31, 2008.
Management will issue full guidance for the year ending
December 31, 2008 for its Company in February 2008.
Conference Call
Dr. McKelvey and Richard Baron, the Company's Chief
Financial Officer, will hold a conference call to discuss
this acquisition and the marketing arrangement. The
conference call will take place at 8:30 a.m. EST on
November 28, 2007. For the conference call interested
participants should dial 800-322-5044 when calling within
the United States or 617-614-4927 when calling internationally
along with the pass code 80759494. There will be a playback
available through 11:59 p.m. (EST) on December 4, 2007.
To listen to the playback, please call 888-286-8010
when calling within the United States or 617-801-6888
when calling internationally. Please use pass code 30747023
for the replay.
This call is being webcast by Thomson Financial and
can be accessed at eRT's web site at http://www.eRT.com.
The webcast may also be accessed at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/playerlink.zhtml?c=119164&s=wm&e=1706207
. The webcast can be accessed until November 28, 2008
on either site.
About eResearchTechnology, Inc.
Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, eResearchTechnology,
Inc. (http://www.eRT.com) is a provider of technology
and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and
medical device industries on a global basis. The Company
is a market leader in providing centralized core-diagnostic
electrocardiographic (ECG) technology and services to
evaluate cardiac safety in clinical development. The
Company is also a leader in providing technology and
services to streamline the clinical trials process by
enabling its customers to automate the collection, analysis,
and distribution of clinical data in all phases of clinical
development.
Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Covance (http://www.covance.com)
is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive
drug development services companies with annual revenues
greater than $1.3 billion, global operations in more
than 20 countries, and more than 8,400 employees worldwide.
Statements included in this release may constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements, including, but not limited to, 2007 financial
guidance and timing of closing of the acquisition, involve
a number of risks and uncertainties such as the Company's
ability to obtain new contracts and accurately estimate
net revenues due to uncertain regulatory guidance, variability
in size, scope and duration of projects, and internal
issues at the sponsoring client, competitive factors,
technological development, and market demand. As a result,
actual results may differ materially from any financial
outlooks stated herein. Further information on potential
factors that could affect the Company's financial results
can be found in the Company's Reports on Form 10-K and
10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update
any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of
new information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE: eResearchTechnology, Inc.
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