View:
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
December 4, 2001
- ------------------
(Date of earliest event reported)
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS
- ------------------------------------------
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
DELAWARE 1-11353 13-3757370
-------------- ----------- --------------
(State or other (Commission (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of File Number) Identification
incorporation) Number)
358 SOUTH MAIN STREET, BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 27215
- -------------------------------------------------------
(Address of principal executive offices)
336-229-1127
- ------------
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
Laboratory Corporation of America -Registered Trademark-
Holdings (LabCorp -Registered Trademark-)(NYSE:LH)and Myriad
Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN), announced their new partnership to
make Myriad's predictive medicine products broadly available to
primary care physicians throughout the United States. Labcorp
becomes Myriad's exclusive sales and distribution partner,
marketing the products through its 600-person U.S. sales force.
Myriad will also continue to market its products to oncologists
through its own 85-person oncology sales force. All of Myriad's
predictive medicine products are included in this new agreement,
including the Company's three cancer and one hypertension
predictive products.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL
INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS
(c) Exhibit
Press release of the Company dated December 4,
2001.
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
------------------------------------------
(Registrant)
By:/s/ BRADFORD T. SMITH
----------------------------------
Bradford T. Smith
Executive Vice President,
and, Secretary
Date: December 4, 2001
Contacts:
Pamela Sherry William A. Hockett
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Myriad Genetics, Inc.
336-436-4855 801-584-3600
investor@labcorp.com bhockett@myriad.com
www.labcorp.com www.myriad.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LABCORP AND MYRIAD GENETICS FORM EXCLUSIVE
PREDICTIVE MEDICINE MARKETING ALLIANCE
Labcorp to Offer Myriad Products to 200,000 Physician
Customers Throughout the United States
Burlington, NC and Salt Lake City, UT, December 4, 2001 Laboratory
Corporation of America -Registered Trademark- Holdings (LabCorp-
Registered Trademark--) (NYSE: LH) and Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:
MYGN), today announced their new partnership to make Myriad's
predictive medicine products broadly available to primary care physicians
throughout the United States. LabCorp becomes Myriad's exclusive sales
and distribution partner, marketing the products through its 600-person U.S.
sales force. Myriad will also continue to market its products to oncologists
through its own 85-person oncology sales force. All of Myriad's predictive
medicine products are included in this new agreement, including the
Company's three cancer and one hypertension predictive products.
The Myriad predictive medicine products are to be marketed nationally
to LabCorp's more than 200,000 physician customers. Myriad will
perform the comprehensive DNA sequence-based tests at its high-capacity
molecular diagnostics facility in Salt Lake City. This agreement enables
LabCorp to provide single-source access to a full complement of products
ranging from disease predisposition to diagnosis and monitoring treatment.
LabCorp may also enhance their product range by adding specific mutations
discovered by Myriad to their various panels that assess risk of developing
disease like hypertension and cancer, including breast cancer, ovarian
cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer and melanoma skin cancer.
"We are delighted to be selected to bring the products of a company as
successful as Myriad Genetics to market," said LabCorp Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer Thomas P. Mac Mahon. "This collaboration
with Myriad, coupled with the promise of developing an expanded
relationship as additional, important cancer tests become available,
speaks to LabCorp's leadership and dedication in the field of genomics."
The agreement creates an immediate distribution pipeline into the primary
care physician market for Myriad's predictive medicine products and
establishes access for Myriad to LabCorp's network of clinical service
centers where patients may have blood drawn and packaged for shipment to
Myriad. For an upfront fee, LabCorp will receive the right to market
Myriad's current predictive medicine products, and technology and rights to
perform mutation detection tests. LabCorp will receive a marketing fee from
Myriad on new business that is generated from primary care physicians.
LabCorp is committed to help support through education the expanded
availability of these important services to men and women with a family
history of cancer.
"We are very pleased to be working with LabCorp, a leading reference
laboratory in the United States," commented Peter Meldrum, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Myriad Genetics, Inc. "There is strong synergy
in this alliance. Both LabCorp and Myriad have made substantial
commitments to the molecular diagnostics field and the companies share the
vision that predictive medicine products will play an essential role in the
future prevention and treatment of disease."
MYRIAD'S PREDICTIVE MEDICINE PRODUCTS
BRACAnalysis-Registered Trademark - Myriad's largest-selling product
assesses a woman's risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. The test
has become the standard of care in identification of individuals with
hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. BRACAnalysis is reimbursed by
insurance. Women with these mutations have a reported lifetime risk of
breast cancer up to 87 percent, and a lifetime risk of ovarian cancer up to
44 percent.
COLARIS-Trademark-- Myriad's fastest-growing product identifies
individuals who have a high risk of developing colon cancer and uterine
cancer. These individuals then receive earlier and more frequent
monitoring and removal of pre-cancerous lesions, which can prevent
colon cancer from occurring. Colorectal cancer is second only to lung
cancer in the number of deaths it causes annually among Americans, with
57,000 people dying each year from the disease. The American Cancer
Society estimates that 90 percent of people who are diagnosed with
colorectal cancer would survive if the disease could be detected earlier.
MELARIS-Trademark-- Myriad's latest predictive medicine offering,
MELARIS is used to identify individuals with a high risk of melanoma
skin cancer. Individuals who test positive have a 50-fold increased risk of
developing melanoma. This knowledge may prevent skin cancer through
initiation of early and more frequent surveillance and removal of pre-
cancerous lesions. Melanoma is growing at the second fastest rate of any
cancer in the United States. Melanoma is lethal within five years in 86%
of cases in which it has spread to another site in the body. However,
when melanoma is diagnosed early, fewer than 10% of patients die
within five years.
CardiaRisk-Registered Trademark- One of the first products on the
market to aid in determining the appropriate drug for the patient based on
his or her genetic makeup, CardiaRisk identifies patients with high blood
pressure who are more likely to benefit from ACE inhibitor or AII
receptor blocker classes of drugs. CardiaRisk also identifies individuals
who are at increased risk for heart attacks. Individuals with an inherited
mutation in the angiotensinogen gene are far more likely to become
hypertensive, experiencing a more severe form of the disease earlier in
life.
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics, Inc. is a leading biopharmaceutical company focused
on the development of novel therapeutic products derived from its
proprietary genomic and proteomic technologies. The Company has
established two wholly owned subsidiaries. Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
develops and intends to market therapeutic compounds, and Myriad
Genetic Laboratories, Inc. develops and markets proprietary predictive
medicine and personalized medicine products. Myriad has established
strategic alliances with Bayer, Eli Lilly, Hitachi, Novartis, Oracle,
Pharmacia, Roche, Schering AG, Schering-Plough and Syngenta.
About LabCorp
The first national clinical laboratory to fully embrace genomic testing,
Laboratory Corporation of America -Registered Trademark- Holdings
(LabCorp -Registered Trademark-) has been a pioneer in
commercializing new diagnostic technologies. As a national laboratory
with annual revenues of $1.9 billion in 2000 and over 18,000 employees,
the company offers more than 4,000 clinical tests ranging from simple
blood analyses to sophisticated molecular diagnostics. Serving more than
200,000 clients nationwide, LabCorp leverages its expertise in innovative
clinical testing technology with its Centers of Excellence. The Center for
Molecular Biology and Pathology, in Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina, offers state-of-the-art molecular gene-based testing in
infectious disease, oncology and genetics. Its National Genetics Institute
in Los Angeles is an industry leader in developing novel, highly sensitive
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods for testing hepatitis C and
other blood borne infectious agents. LabCorp's Minneapolis-based Viro-
Med offers molecular microbial testing using real time PCR platforms,
while its 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.
The discussion in this news release includes forward-looking statements that
are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on
LabCorp's and Myriad Genetic's current expectations that are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those set forth or implied by forward-looking statements, including, but
not limited to uncertainties as to the extent of future government regulation
of LabCorp's and Myriad Genetics' businesses and competitive actions in the
marketplace, uncertainties as to whether Myriad Genetics and its
collaborators will be successful in developing, and obtaining regulatory
approval for, and commercial acceptance of, therapeutics; the risk that
markets will not exist for therapeutic compounds that Myriad Genetics
develops or if such markets exist, that Myriad Genetics will not be able to
sell compounds, which it develops, at acceptable prices. All information in
this press release is as of December 4, 2001, and LabCorp and Myriad
undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law. Further
information on potential factors that could affect LabCorp's and Myriad's
financial results is included in each company's Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2000 and subsequent SEC filings.
###
- -