February 21, 2008
(Date of earliest event reported)
LABORATORY CORPORATION
OF
AMERICA HOLDINGS
DELAWARE | 1-11353 | 13-3757370 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of Incorporation) |
(Commission File Number) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
358 SOUTH MAIN STREET, BURLINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA |
27215 | 336-229-1127 | ||
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
(Registrant's telephone number including area code) |
ITEM 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure
On February 21, 2008, Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) (NYSE: LH) announced that Yale University has released the results of its Phase II study on a blood test to detect early stage ovarian cancer. Using six biomarkers, this blood test can discriminate between disease-free women and ovarian cancer patients (stage I-IV) with high specificity (99.4%) and sensitivity (95.3%). A Phase III trial is under way and should be completed in a few months. Initial studies are focused on women who have increased risk for the development of ovarian cancer.
Exhibits
99.1 Press Release dated February 21, 2008
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities 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) |
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Date: February 21, 2008 | By: | /s/Bradford T. Smith | ||
Bradford T. Smith, Executive Vice President and Secretary |
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Burlington, NC, February 21, 2008 Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®) (NYSE: LH) today announced that Yale University has released the results of its Phase II study on a blood test to detect early stage ovarian cancer. Using six biomarkers, this blood test can discriminate between disease-free women and ovarian cancer patients (stage I-IV) with high specificity (99.4%) and sensitivity (95.3%). A Phase III trial is under way and should be completed in a few months. Initial studies are focused on women who have increased risk for the development of ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States and is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer deaths. Despite being one-tenth as common as breast cancer, it is three times more lethal and the average woman carries a 1:70 lifetime risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This year, approximately 20,180 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and 15,310 will die from the disease.
Being able to detect early stage ovarian cancer will enable physicians to treat this disease early, said Myla P. Lai-Goldman, M.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and Medical Director of LabCorp. Survival rates for women with the disease detected early can be as high as 90 percent, yet, if not diagnosed early, the survival rate drops to only 20 percent.
The ability to recognize almost 100 percent of new tumors will have a major impact on the high death rates of this cancer, said Gil Mor, associate professor of reproductive sciences at the medical school and lead researcher of the study. While initial studies are focused on women with increased risk, we hope this test will eventually become the standard of care for women having routine examinations. You can listen to Dr. Mors iTunes U podcast at: http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/yale.edu.1320598949 (scroll down to Dr. Mors name).
LabCorp signed an exclusive license agreement with Yale University in 2006 to commercialize the universitys blood testing technology for ovarian cancer. LabCorp and Yale are hopeful that this test will be available to women by the end of the year. For more information on the Phase III trials, please visit Yales website at http://www.yaleobgyn.org/reproimmuno/discovery.html.
About Yale Office of
Cooperative Research
The Yale University Office of
Cooperative Research (YU-OCR) manages intellectual assets created at Yale to achieve the
maximum benefit for the public and provide a return to support the broader research and
education missions of the University. YU-OCR is comprised of trusted experts in
professional disciplines, increasing private sector awareness within the university and
identifying opportunities for collaborations with companies, investors and other academic
institutions. Information on licensing agreements is available through ocr@yale.edu
or at http://www.yale.edu/ocr/ online.
About LabCorp®
Laboratory Corporation of
America® Holdings, a S&P 500 company, is a pioneer in commercializing
new diagnostic technologies and the first in its industry to embrace genomic testing. With
annual revenues of $4.1 billion in 2007, over 26,000 employees nationwide, and more than
220,000 clients, LabCorp offers clinical assays ranging from routine blood analyses to HIV
and genomic testing. LabCorp combines its expertise in innovative clinical testing
technology with its Centers of Excellence: The Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology,
National Genetics Institute, Inc., ViroMed Laboratories, Inc., The Center for Esoteric
Testing, DIANON Systems, Inc., US LABS, and Esoterix and its Colorado Coagulation,
Endocrine Sciences, and Cytometry Associates laboratories. LabCorp conducts clinical trial
testing through its Esoterix Clinical Trials Services division. LabCorp clients include
physicians, government agencies, managed care organizations, hospitals, clinical labs, and
pharmaceutical companies. To learn more about our organization, visit our Web site at:
www.labcorp.com.
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. Actual results could differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements. Further information on potential factors that could affect LabCorps financial results is included in the Companys Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and subsequent SEC filings, and will be available in the Companys Form 10-K for year ended December 31, 2007, when filed.