Since 1995, Reliable Business Intelligence for Clinical Laboratories, Pathology Groups and Laboratory Diagnostics

Volume IX No. 7 - May 13, 2002

Survivor: Story of the Nation’s Largest Lab Firm

TELEVISION’S “SURVIVOR” IS THE UNFOLDING STORY of how one person competes to outlast 16 fellow players in a remote outdoor setting. The winner of “Survivor” walks away with a $1 million prize. The show has proven to be popular and is now airing episodes of its fourth group of competitors, stuck on a tropical island …

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More Lab Consolidation: LabCorp Buys Dynacare

CEO SUMMARY: Recent weeks brought many rumors about an impending deal between Laboratory Corporation of America and Dynacare. That speculation was ended last week when it was disclosed that LabCorp would pay about $685 million in cash, stock and assumed debt to acquire Dynacare. The acquisition also spells the end to Dynacare’s strategy developing lab …

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Specialty Labs Coping With Unique Challenges

CEO SUMMARY: Few laboratory executives have ever been tested as intensely as those of Specialty Laboratories, Inc. Since the first of the year, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has purchased two of its biggest lab clients. In April, state and federal lab regulators issued sanctions. Both developments are roiling the market for hospital send-out testing. IT’S THE …

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High Cost of New Assays Stretching Lab Budgets

CEO SUMMARY: Growing numbers of hospital labs report that higher costs of new diagnostic tests have become a new management problem. That’s because diagnostic manufacturers are developing tests around a new business model, one that calls for higher pricing based on a premise of higher clinical value. Marketing campaigns for these new assays will become …

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Is Physicians’ Office Testing Evolving Toward an Oligopoly?

CEO SUMMARY: One of the most unpopular industries with consumers is the airline industry. At the national level, it is an oligopoly—dominated by seven carriers. But in many cities, it is a monopoly, with one airline flying 80% of the seats in and out of town. Ongoing consolidation of regional commercial labs by the Two …

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THE DARK REPORT’S Annual Ranking of Public Laboratory Companies

Boom times continued during 2001 for both the clinical laboratory industry and anatomic pathology profession. Throughout 2001, almost every public lab company was able to post double-digit revenue growth. For a number of companies, this growth was accomplished by acquiring smaller laboratory companies. But most lab companies also report strong increases in specimen volume attributable …

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California Lab Regulators Are A Tough Bunch

CEO SUMMARY: By law, government regulators cannot comment publicly about the actions they take against the companies they regulate. That’s why the lab industry never learned that other public lab companies operating in California, following inspections by state authorities, were judged to have some deficiencies similar to those found at Specialty Laboratories. BY NOW, JUST …

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“May 13, 2002 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”

Guess whose DNA was used by Celera Genomics during its project to map the human genome back in 1999? It was primarily the DNA of J. Craig Ventor, Ph.D., who was Chairman of Celera at that time. The disclosure, made last week, has stirred some controversy. Defenders say it is in the tradition of self-experimentation …

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