LabCorp 2011 Annual Report Download - page 6

4
Pillar Five
Pillar Four Pillar Five
Continue scientific innovation to
offer new tests at reasonable and
appropriate pricing
Innovative฀tests฀continue฀to฀be฀an฀important฀growth฀driver฀for฀
LabCorp.฀In฀2011,฀we฀introduced฀a฀total฀of฀104฀new฀assays฀
as we collaborated with leading companies and academic
institutions to provide physicians and patients with the most
scientifically advanced testing in the industry.
In฀personalized฀medicine,฀we฀added฀to฀our฀industry-leading฀suite฀
of companion diagnostic testing by being the first national lab to
introduce assays that can help physicians appropriately prescribe
the drugs Zelboraf™฀and฀XALKORI® in the treatment of certain
types฀of฀cancer.฀The฀FDA฀recently฀approved฀Zelboraf฀for฀use฀with฀
patients฀with฀metastatic฀melanoma฀that฀carry฀the฀BRAF฀V600E฀
gene mutation. The companion diagnostic test we provide is
essential for identifying patients who have this mutation and
may฀benet฀from฀this฀therapy.฀Also฀in฀2011,฀XALKORI฀received฀
FDA฀approval฀for฀use฀in฀a฀subset฀of฀non-small฀cell฀lung฀cancer฀
patients฀classied฀as฀ALK-positive.฀LabCorp’s฀clinically฀validated฀
companion฀diagnostic฀identies฀these฀ALK-positive฀patients฀that฀
should฀benet฀from฀XALKORI.฀
We฀also฀launched฀a฀series฀of฀hepatitis฀C฀(HCV)฀drug฀resistance฀
assays developed to support the clinical evaluation of anti-viral
agents฀and฀their฀effective฀use฀in฀the฀management฀of฀HCV฀
infection. These tests add to LabCorp’s industry-leading suite
of฀HCV฀diagnostics,฀all฀designed฀to฀help฀physicians฀provide฀
optimal patient care.
In฀women’s฀health,฀we฀simplied฀specimen฀collection฀for฀physicians฀
by offering a single-swab device that tests for a variety of the
most common sexually transmitted disease organisms. Our
single-swab device provides the comprehensive actionable
information physicians need to deliver the best and most
appropriate care to their patients.
Participate฀in฀the฀development฀of฀
alternative delivery models to improve
patient outcomes and reduce the cost
of care
With new health policy mandates and an urgent need to control
costs, we believe the health care system will continue to move
away from traditional fee-for-service payment models. As the
most efficient, highest-value provider of laboratory services,
LabCorp is ideally positioned to prosper in a market environment
increasingly฀focused฀on฀the฀efcient฀delivery฀of฀quality฀services.
Last year, we were pleased to extend our contract with
UnitedHealthcare฀through฀the฀end฀of฀2018.฀For฀ve฀years,฀our฀
partnership฀has฀delivered฀high-quality฀laboratory฀services฀to฀
UnitedHealthcare’s customers while lowering their laboratory spend.
Over the next seven years, LabCorp will remain UnitedHealthcare’s
sole฀national฀laboratory,฀and฀both฀organizations฀will฀continue฀to฀
work to improve the management of laboratory networks and
services฀to฀deliver฀high-quality฀care฀at฀reasonable฀cost.฀
Although฀I฀cannot฀overemphasize฀the฀importance฀of฀a฀sound฀
strategic foundation, a strategy is nothing unless it is well-
executed. The credit for our successes, once again and still,
belongs฀to฀the฀31,000฀LabCorp฀employees฀who฀deliver฀the฀
highest-quality฀care฀to฀our฀patients฀and฀physicians฀7฀days฀a฀
week,฀365฀days฀a฀year.฀I฀am฀deeply฀grateful฀to฀our฀talented฀
team, and we are all grateful to you for your continuing support.
Very฀truly฀yours,
Dave฀King
Chairman฀and฀Chief฀Executive฀Ofcer