Company is cutting costs
CHANDLER, AZ (AP) – Drug development services company Covance plans to close a $150 million laboratory it opened in Chandler amid protests by animal rights activists in 2009.
The Princeton, NJ-based company said in a May 2 regulatory filing that closing the facility would help it reach a goal of saving $20 million a year in its early development segment.
The company successfully fought off a suit trying to block the 300,000 square foot facility in 2008. The lab was built so the company could test chemicals and potential drugs on rats, mice, dogs, and monkeys.
A few dozen employees worked at the lab when it opened in early 2009, with a long-term goal of nearly 2,000 jobs. The company didn't say in its filing how many workers may lose their jobs when the lab closes.
