Covance Launches Managed Markets Services

Covance Inc., one of the world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies, announced the creation of a new service offering focused on providing its biopharmaceutical and medical device clients support to effectively manage contracts in managed markets. Steve Medina, Vice President, Managed Market Services, is leading this new effort.

Covance's managed markets services will help clients maximise value by improving controls and management of contract terms and associated payments. The new service will also help biopharmaceutical and medical device clients obtain higher market share by gaining better visibility into contract performance with managed care organisations, group purchasing organisations, federal and state programmes, and wholesalers.

The service targets a substantial need in the marketplace as chargebacks and rebates used in contracts account for as much as 20% of US gross sales for biopharmaceutical and medical device companies (approximately $50 billion a year). Without the right controls and contracting processes in place, biopharmaceutical and medical device companies risk both revenue loss and potential penalties associated with a failure to comply with government regulations. It is estimated that biopharmaceutical and medical device companies currently lose up to 4.4% of US revenue per year, or $11 billion a year, due to insufficient processes and contract management systems at a time when the economic environment for the sale of drugs and devices has never been more challenging.

"Covance is pleased to have invested in the expertise and technology to help biopharmaceutical and medical device clients prevent significant annual revenue losses from insufficient oversight of the contracts that are used to negotiate price and formulary placement with insurance companies, wholesalers and the government," said Marc Ginsky, Vice President and General Manager, Covance Market Access Services. "These contracts have become increasingly complex during the past several years and the acquisition and maintenance of the talent and technical infrastructure required to set up, maintain, and manage contracts without revenue leakage is a significant struggle for our clients."

"Covance's managed markets services can transform a labour-intensive, time-consuming, and costly process into a far simpler and more efficient service platform for our clients," said Steve Medina, Vice President, Managed Markets Services. "We believe that no other company currently offers a full-service, end-to-end solution across all types of contracts and services, with a full technical environment provided as part of the underlying service."

Covance's managed markets services will be led by Steve Medina, who joined Covance in July 2012. Medina came to Covance from HighPoint Solutions, where he was Vice President, Managed Service. Prior to this, Medina was the Practice Leader of the BTS Delivery Services Organization within IMS Health, the delivery services organization responsible for providing specialized solutions and on-going services to life sciences companies. His career includes 23 years of consulting, focused on health care product manufacturing.  He specializes in ongoing service solutions, account management, and systems implementation. Medina has extensive experience with contract management, as well as sales and marketing.