"Our business is driven by our clients' global drug development needs"

-Dr Jean-Marc Leroux, vice president, global laboratory operations, Geneva site director, Covance Central Laboratory Services SA.

What are the critical success factors that have made Covance the market leader in clinical trials?

The bottom line is that our customers trust us to deliver the highest quality data yield for their studies. Covance Central Laboratory Services has been 100 percent dedicated to clinical trial research for over 20 years and during that time we have managed over 10,000 clinical trial protocols in over 100 countries in six continents. Our customers have peace of mind because we have the knowledge, expertise, and capacity to provide comprehensive and efficient services for their drug trials.

You mentioned that clients are a major driver to set up labs in a particular location/country. How come?

Our business is driven by our clients' global drug development needs. For example, we recently announced plans to open a central laboratory in Shanghai, China by the end of 2007. Covance decided to do this because many of our major clients are conducting clinical trials in China and the demand is growing.

Are there various stages in a client relationship in the clinical trials industry?

I wouldn't say there are stages, but there is a process to help our customers. To provide the best service, it is important for us to understand their needs. We work closely with customers, asking questions, learning about them and the requirements of their studies. We strive to be a preferred supplier to all of our customers because regardless of the size of the study, our goal is the same - to provide the highest quality data.

In your opinion, what are the specific steps that India needs to take if it wanted to attract investments from market leaders like Covance?

I think that before an organization decides to invest in a certain country, they have to be sure there is a sizeable market need for the specific service type and that it makes sense from a business perspective. Will this investment add meaningful value to customers beyond what is being realized through our current service offerings? Will it result in customers bringing Covance CLS more business? Will the upside benefits for customers and for Covance outweigh the associated risks, challenges and investment required? And once questions of this kind can be answered through a business analysis, then I think local officials can assist by providing specific information about the country that might help in an organization's decision-making process.

E Abraham Mathew