UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934
MARCH 23, 2000
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(Date of earliest event reported)
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
DELAWARE 1-11353 13-3757370
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(State or other (Commission (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of File Number) Identification
incorporation) Number)
358 SOUTH MAIN STREET, BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 27215
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(Address of principal executive offices)
336-229-1127
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
On March 23, 2000, Laboratory Corporation of America-
Registered Trademark- Holdings (LabCorp-Registered Trademark-)
announced the signing of an agreement to provide ViroLogic Inc.'s
phenotypic HIV drug susceptibility assay, PhenoSense-Trademark-
HIV, through LabCorp's national laboratory services network. This
agreement adds PhenoSense-Trademark- HIV to LabCorp's existing
phenotyping and genotyping test menu, further expanding LabCorp's
extensive HIV testing services and offering increased physician
choice. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL
INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS
(c) Exhibit
20 Press release of the Company dated
March 23, 2000.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange
Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to
be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly
authorized.
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS
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(Registrant)
By:/s/ BRADFORD T. SMITH
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Bradford T. Smith
Executive Vice President,
General Counsel, Secretary
and Compliance Officer
Date: March 29, 2000
Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark- Holdings
358 South Main Street
Burlington, NC 27215
Telephone: 336-584-5171
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Contact: 336-436-4855 Shareholder Direct: 800-LAB-0401
Pamela Sherry www.labcorp.com
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA-REGISTERED TRADEMARK- ANNOUNCES
PARTNERSHIP WITH VIROLOGIC INC. TO EXPAND HIV RESISTANCE TESTING SERVICES
Burlington, NC, March 23, 2000 - Laboratory Corporation of
America-Registered Trademark- Holdings (LabCorp-Registered
Trademark-) (NYSE: LH) today announced the signing of an
agreement to provide ViroLogic Inc.'s phenotypic HIV drug
susceptibility assay, PhenoSense-Trademark- HIV, through
LabCorp's national laboratory services network. This agreement
adds PhenoSense-Trademark- HIV to LabCorp's existing phenotyping
and genotyping test menu, further expanding LabCorp's extensive
HIV testing services and offering increased physician choice.
Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
The FDA's Antiretroviral Advisory Committee recently concluded
that resistance tests should be used to help develop new drugs to
combat HIV. In addition, a panel led by the Department of Health
and Human Services recently issued guidelines that recommend the
routine use of resistance tests for treating HIV patients. The
use of phenotypic HIV resistance testing in making treatment
choices has been shown to significantly improve outcomes of
patients who had failed previous therapy. As a pioneer in
identifying and commercializing leading-edge diagnostic testing
services, LabCorp was the first national laboratory to offer HIV
viral load testing in 1993, and later introduced HIV resistance
testing - each now established as standards of care.
"Less than two years after our exclusive introduction of HIV
resistance testing, we are pleased with the acceptance of both
genotypic and phenotypic testing, and the support garnered by
opinion leaders, payors, and caregivers alike for this critical
guidance system," said Myla P. Lai-Goldman, MD, executive vice
president, chief scientific officer, and medical director of
LabCorp. "As new technologies become recognized as standards of
care, one of our most important responsibilities as the leading
provider of specialized infectious disease testing is to broaden
public access to them. Therefore, LabCorp will offer its
customers the choice of ViroLogic's assay or the currently
offered phenotypic method for HIV drug resistance. We believe
our new relationship with ViroLogic will enhance patient access
to this testing and improve turnaround time."
Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark- Holdings
(LabCorp-Registered Trademark-) is a national clinical laboratory
with annual revenues of $1.7 billion in 1999. With 18,000
employees and over 100,000 clients nationwide, the company offers
more than 2,000 clinical tests ranging from simple blood analyses
to sophisticated molecular diagnostics. LabCorp leverages its
expertise in innovative clinical testing technology with three
Centers of Excellence. The Center for Molecular Biology and
Pathology, in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina,
develops applications for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
technology. Its Center for Occupational Testing in RTP is the
world's largest substance abuse testing facility, and the Center
for Esoteric Testing in Burlington, North Carolina, performs the
largest volume of specialty testing in the network. LabCorp's
clients include physicians, state and federal government, managed
care organizations, hospitals, clinics, pharmaceutical and
Fortune 1000 companies, and other clinical laboratories.
ViroLogic is a biotechnology company developing and marketing
innovative products to guide and improve treatment of viral
diseases. The Company has developed a practical way of directly
measuring the impact of genetic mutations on drug resistance and
using this information to guide therapy. The Company has a
proprietary technology, called PhenoSense-Trademark-, for testing
drug resistance in viruses that cause serious diseases such as
AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The Company's first product,
PhenoSense HIV, is a test that directly and quantitatively
measures resistance of a patient's HIV to anti-viral drugs. The
Company is also developing PhenoSense products for other viral
diseases and intends to use the results of its PhenoSense tests
and other clinical data to develop its Therapy Guidance System-
Trademark- (TGS-Trademark-), an interactive database to help
physicians guide patient therapy.
LabCorp noted that each of the above forward-looking statements
is subject to change based on various important factors,
including without limitation, competitive actions in the
marketplace and adverse actions of governmental and other third-
party payors. Further information on potential factors that
could affect LabCorp's financial results is included in LabCorp's
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999.
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