Following the collapse of its Joint Venture arrangement with WuXi PharmaTech, Covance will build its own China CRO facilities, but the company does not feel any great pressure to get the job done quickly. The reason? China’s current cost advantage will soon disappear, as wages for scientists in China approach those in the west, according to Joe Herring, CEO of Covance. Covance does $1.5 billion worth of CRO business around the world. Apparently, it does not feel as though it is losing a great deal of contracts to its China-based competitors. More details...

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