Sanofi and Covance win award for research alliance

Sanofi and Covance have won the 2011 Scrip Award for Outsourcing Deal of the Year after recently agreeing a ten-year research and development alliance.

The companies were presented with the accolade by analyst Scrip Intelligence in London earlier this month in recognition of the "impressive" scale, potential efficiencies and benefits of the partnership.

Finalised last month, the Sanofi/Covance alliance will span all phases of clinical development and also encompasses an asset and staff transfer for around 300 workers and two research facilities.

John Watson, chief commercial officer and president for strategic partnering at Covance, said creating new partnership models is a vital part of staying at the forefront of an evolving market.

He added that the win recognises the "thousands of Sanofi and Covance employees who, every day, are finding new ways to collaborate, innovate and accelerate drug development".

Earlier this month, Sanofi reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2011, highlighting a 10.1 percent annual increase in net sales.