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
OCTOBER 2, 2002
- ------------------
(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 Celera Diagnostics, a
joint venture between the Applied Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), and the
Celera Genomics Group (NYSE:CRA) of Applera Corporation, today
announced an agreement to collaborate in establishing the clinical
utility of laboratory tests based on novel diagnostic markers for
Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. This
collaboration will support current and future disease association
studies at Celera Diagnostics that seek to identify genetic markers
associated with these important diseases.
The agreement provides LabCorp with exclusive access to markers found
to have clinical utility through the collaboration for a defined time,
and establishes Celera Diagnostics as a preferred vendor to LabCorp for
certain molecular diagnostic products. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL
INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS
(c) Exhibit
20 Press release of the Company dated October 2, 2002.
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: OCTOBER 2, 2002
Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark- Holdings
358 South Main Street
Burlington, NC 27215
Telephone: 336-584-5171
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LabCorp Contact: 336-436-4855
Pamela Sherry
Investor@labcorp.com
LabCorp Shareholder Direct: 800-LAB-0401
www.labcorp.com
Celera Contacts: Media
650-638-6130
Lori Murray
murrayla@appliedbiosystems.com
Investors
650-554-2479
Peter Dworkin
dworkipg@applera.com
LABCORP-REGISTERED TRADEMARK- AND CELERA
DIAGNOSTICS TO COLLABORATE IN ALZHEIMER'S
DISEASE AND BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER
BURLINGTON, NC, and ALAMEDA, CA - October 2, 2002
- - Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark-
Holdings (LabCorp-Registered Trademark-) (NYSE:LH) and
Celera Diagnostics, a joint venture between the Applied
Biosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), and the Celera Genomics
Group (NYSE:CRA) of Applera Corporation, today announced
an agreement to collaborate in establishing the clinical utility
of laboratory tests based on novel diagnostic markers for
Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. This
collaboration will support current and future disease
association studies at Celera Diagnostics that seek to identify
genetic markers associated with these important diseases.
The agreement provides LabCorp with exclusive access to
markers found to have clinical utility through the collaboration
for a defined time, and establishes Celera Diagnostics as a
preferred vendor to LabCorp for certain molecular diagnostic
products. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"LabCorp is delighted to collaborate with Celera Diagnostics, a
leader in genomic science, to introduce important new tests
targeting three common diseases with large, unmet diagnostic
needs," said Thomas P. Mac Mahon, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of LabCorp. "Not only will our scientists
contribute substantial scientific expertise to the validation
process, our national distribution network makes new
diagnostic services broadly available - offering the
opportunity to bring the promise of Celera's research to
practical reality."
"We are very pleased to have LabCorp as a partner in the
validation and commercialization of tests that incorporate
markers discovered at Celera Diagnostics," said Kathy
Ordo ez, President, Celera Diagnostics. "This arrangement
should help ensure that physicians and their patients obtain
rapid access to tests incorporating our future discoveries."
The disease association studies described in today's
announcement are being conducted by Celera Diagnostics as
part of the alliance with Abbott Laboratories to develop,
manufacture and market a broad range of in vitro molecular
diagnostic products for disease detection, disease progression
monitoring and therapy selection. The alliance, announced in
June 2002, focuses on development of nucleic acid-based tests
for infectious and genetic diseases and cancer. The two
companies are contributing current products to the alliance and
collaborating on the development of new products.
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
$2.2 billion in 2001 and over 25,000 employees, the Company
offers more than 4,000 clinical tests ranging from routine
analyses to sophisticated molecular diagnostics. Serving over
200,000 clients nationwide, LabCorp combines 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 ViroMed 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.
About Celera Diagnostics and Applera Corporation
Celera Diagnostics is a joint venture between two Applera
Corporation businesses, Applied Biosystems and Celera
Genomics. Headquartered in Alameda, CA, Celera Diagnostics
focuses on discovering novel genetic markers for disease and
configuring these into new diagnostic tests to predict,
characterize, monitor and select therapy for cardiovascular
disease, auto-immunity, central nervous system disorders, and
cancer. The Applied Biosystems Group develops and markets
instrument-based systems, reagents, software, and contract
services to the life science industry and research community.
Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and
RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific
discoveries, leading to the development of new
pharmaceuticals, and to conduct standardized testing. Applied
Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported
sales of $1.6 billion during fiscal 2002. The Celera Genomics
Group, located in Rockville, MD, and South San Francisco,
CA, is engaged principally in integrating advanced
technologies to discover and develop new therapeutics. Celera
intends to leverage its proteomics, bioinformatics, and
genomics capabilities to identify and validate drug targets and
diagnostic marker candidates, and to discover and develop
novel therapeutic candidates. Its Celera Discovery System-
Trademark- online platform, marketed exclusively through the
Knowledge Business of Applied Biosystems, is an integrated
source of information based on the human genome and other
biological and medical sources. Information about Applera
Corporation, including reports and other information filed by
the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is
available at www.applera.com, or by telephoning
800.762.6923.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking.
These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words
or phrases such as "believe," "expect," and "should," among
others. These forward-looking statements are based on Applera
Corporation's and LabCorp's current expectations. The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe
harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to
comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Applera and LabCorp
note that a variety of factors could cause actual results and
experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or
other expectations expressed in such forward-looking
statements. For Applera, these factors include but are not
limited to (1) unproven ability of Celera Diagnostics to
discover, develop, and commercialize diagnostic products; (2)
unproven use of genomics information to develop diagnostic
products; (3) uncertainty in obtaining intellectual property
protection for inventions made by Celera Diagnostics, and
uncertainty in obtaining any necessary third party intellectual
property licenses; (4) uncertainty that Celera Diagnostics will
be able to obtain access to the tissue samples and other
biological materials necessary for its research and development
efforts; (5) possibility of delays in making Celera Diagnostics'
manufacturing facility fully operational and unproven ability to
scale up manufacturing as product sales increase; and (6) other
factors that might be described from time to time in Applera's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For
LabCorp, various important factors include, 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, 2001 and subsequent SEC filings.
All information in this press release is as of the date of the
release, and Applera and LabCorp do not undertake any duty to
update this information, including any forward-looking
statements, unless required by law.
Copyright-Copyright- 2002. Applera Corporation. All rights
reserved. Applied Biosystems is a registered trademark and
Applera, Celera, Celera Diagnostics, Celera Discovery System
and Celera Genomics are trademark of Applera Corporation or
its subsidiaries in the US and certain other countries.