Covance to close Kalamazoo unit
US CRO Covance will close its testing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan by the end of November with the loss of 63 jobs.
According to a report in the Kalamazoo Gazette the contract research organisation (CRO) is winding up operations at the site as a result of “slower than expected recovery of the preclinical market and the … need to improve its operating structure.”
Covance has repeatedly cited slow demand for preclinical development services in the global economic downturn as a factor in its performance in recent years, most recently in January.
Covance’s exit from Kalamazoo is good news for local preclinical contracting rival, Mattawan-based MPI Research for which, according to CEO Bill Harrison, “Business is turning around nicely.”
