News - Kenneth M. Borow, MD - CEO
Covalent Group, Inc. Appoints Kenneth M. Borow, M.D. Chief Executive Officer
WAYNE, Pa., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Covalent Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVGR) Board of Directors today appointed Kenneth M. Borow, M.D. to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Company following the resignation of Bruce LaMont.
The appointment of Dr. Borow is the latest step in a major strategic repositioning of Covalent and expansion of CRO and consulting operations -- begun recently with the purchase of 51% of the Company by an investor group led by Richard D. Propper, M.D. and the appointment of Dr. Anthony Cerami and Mr. Donald Holdsworth to the Board of Directors.
Since assuming the role of President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998, Dr. Borow has guided Covalent to a 54% increase in revenue and reversed the 1998 operating losses with four consecutive profitable quarters in 1999. Over that period, Dr. Borow was instrumental in significantly upgrading and expanding the Company's client base.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Borow said, "I am delighted to have been appointed Chief Executive Officer and thank Bruce LaMont for his foresight and efforts in forming Covalent. Now, as we prepare to take the Company to the next level, I am very enthusiastic about both the near and longer-term prospects for the Company.
Over the past 18 months, we have developed, and are now beginning to implement a strategic plan which is designed to significantly broaden the Company's client and partner base both domestically and internationally. I am confident that, combined with access to the exceptional industry relationships of our new Board members, Covalent is now well-positioned to leverage its core clinical research expertise into a range of new market opportunities over the next 12 months.
Included on our targeted new business agenda are Internet-based clinical trial applications and advanced clinical trial imaging capabilities in cardiology, oncology and neurology. Though still early, these initiatives are progressing well and I anticipate they should be additive to our stated 12-month strategic operating goals of doubling our client base and backlog, increasing revenues by 50% and increasing profitability by 100%."
Dr. Borow, formerly President and Chief Medical Officer of Covalent, will continue as the Company's Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Borow is a Harvard-trained Internist, Pediatrician, Adult Cardiologist and Pediatric Cardiologist. He was previously Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, Director of its Cardiovascular Imaging Program, as well as originator and director of a worldwide cardiovascular research program.
More recently, he was responsible for the Clinical Research Operations group at Merck Research Laboratories where he oversaw clinical research operations for 163 protocols involving 38 drugs conducted at more than 2,500 investigative sites in the United States.
Covalent provides drug development services and health management solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and device manufacturers as well as managed care organizations.
To aid its customers, Covalent has developed several currently available proprietary products utilizing interactive speech recognition technology including TeleTrial(R), for use in clinical trials, and Virtual HouseCall(R), a disease assessment system.
This press release contains forward-looking statements..... |
