Covance (FRA:CVD) Debt-to-EBITDA : 0.50 (As of Sep. 2014)

Covance, Inc is a Delaware Corporation, founded in 1987. The Company is a drug development services company providing early-stage and late-stage product development services mainly to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. It also provides laboratory testing services to the chemical, agrochemical and food industries. Its two reportable segments are early development services, which include discovery support services, preclinical services and clinical pharmacology services; and late-stage development services, which include central laboratory, Phase II-IV clinical development, and market access services. The Company's preclinical services include toxicology services, pharmaceutical chemistry and related services. The Company's preclinical area has been a source of innovation by introducing new technologies for client access to data such as StudyTracker, electronic animal identification, multimedia study reports and animal and test tube measures of induced cell proliferation or reproduction. The Company's preclinical toxicology services include in vivo toxicology studies, which are studies of the effects of drugs in animals, genetic toxicology studies, which include studies of the effects of drugs on chromosomes, as well as on genetically modified mice and other specialized toxicology services. In its pharmaceutical chemistry services, it determines the metabolic profile and bioavailability of drug candidates. It also provides laboratory testing services to the chemical, agricultural chemical and food industries. The Company offers services to agricultural chemical manufacturers to determine the potential risk to humans, animals and the environment from plant protection products such as pesticides. In its nutritional chemistry services, the Company offers a range of services to the food, nutriceutical and animal feed industries, including nutritional analysis and equivalency, nutritional content fact labels, microbiological and chemical contaminant safety analysis, pesticide screening and stability testing. It provides custom polyclonal and monoclonal antibody services for research purposes and purpose-bred animals for biomedical research. The Company provides optimization and translational services including custom immunology and monoclonal antibody services, metabolism studies and pharmacokinetic screening as well as non-GLP toxicology, in vivo pharmacology, imaging services and biomarker services. The Company's bioanalytical testing services helps determine the appropriate dose and frequency of drug application from late discovery evaluation through Phase III clinical testing on a full-scale, globally integrated basis. The Company provides clinical pharmacology services, including first-in-human trials, of new pharmaceuticals at its seven clinics located throughout the United States and its one clinic in Leeds, United Kingdom. The Company offers reimbursement and healthcare economics consulting services