Laboratory Corporation of Americas Holdings LH, popularly known as LabCorp, recently collaborated with Unilabs — a leading European provider of clinical laboratory testing and medical diagnostic imaging services. The terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.
Per LabCorp, the companies will start with commercialization of assays which have been designed and tested analytically and clinically by LabCorp and its Covance drug development business. Through this collaboration, LabCorp and Unilabs aim at increasing access to commercialization channels for companion diagnostics in North America and Europe.
The companies also intend to drive the uptake of companion diagnostics by widening the laboratories network accessed by biopharmaceutical companies. Starting with oncology, particularly immuno-oncology, LabCorp and Unilabs will work toward simplifying the technical, regulatory and clinical complexities related with critical assays.
Collaborations on Track
LabCorp has strengthened its foothold in the diagnostics space through organic and inorganic means and plans to collaborate with leading companies and academic institutions to offer a wider portfolio of tests.
Among the recent alliances, the company has announced the extension of its existing partnership agreement with Aetna AET. Of late, the company has been dominating the headlines on its announcement of expanding partnership with UnitedHealthcare, a business of UnitedHealth Group UNH to continue to serve as UnitedHealthcare’s exclusive national laboratory provider till Jan 1, 2019.
Further, the company’s comprehensive laboratory collaboration with Appalachian Regional Healthcare, an 11-hospital health system in Kentucky and West Virginia, is worth a mention. This apart, the company has expanded its relationship with Mount Sinai to consolidate all of the latter’s reference work and streamline its inpatient labs.
Also, LabCorp’s Covance business recently entered a strategic technology agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK. Under the terms of the agreement, GlaxoSmithKline will use Covance’s Xcellerate Monitoring, Xcellerate Insights and Xcellerate Clinical Data Hub solutions as a software-as-a-service model.
Other recent partnerships include the one with Thermo Fisher TMO, which enabled the launch of Thermo Fisher Oncomine Dx target panel for non-small cell lung cancer patients. Also, LabCorp works on developing and operating patient service centers within select Walgreens stores through its drug retailer Walgreens WBA.
Share Price Performance
Over the past six months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have outperformed its industry. The stock has gained 17.7% compared with the industry’s 3.4% gain. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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