Labcorp Drug Development, Inc.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sundaram to our Board of Directors. Her recognized expertise in the pharmaceutical industry and strong leadership qualities perfectly align with our long-term growth strategy. We are confident that her contributions will be instrumental in achieving our goal of advancing early detection and precision treatment of hearing disorders” said Celia Belline, CEO of Cilcare. “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sundaram to our Board of Directors. Her recognized expertise in the pharmaceutical industry and strong leadership qualities perfectly align with our long-term growth strategy. We are confident that her contributions will be instrumental in achieving our goal of advancing early detection and precision treatment of hearing disorders” said Celia Belline, CEO of Cilcare. Dr. Sundaram also expressed her enthusiasm for joining the company: “It is an honor to join Cilcare at such a pivotal time in its journey. The company has shown remarkable progress in recent years and is ideally positioned to leverage its established expertise and capabilities to become a key player in hearing care, serving patients worldwide. I look forward to collaborating with the Board and executive team to support the implementation of the company’s strategic growth plans.” “It is an honor to join Cilcare at such a pivotal time in its journey. The company has shown remarkable progress in recent years and is ideally positioned to leverage its established expertise and capabilities to become a key player in hearing care, serving patients worldwide. I look forward to collaborating with the Board and executive team to support the implementation of the company’s strategic growth plans.” Dr. Preethi Sundaram joined Cilcare’s Board of Directors on December 2, 2024. Over the course of her 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, she has overseen the development and launch of several essential medical treatments. Since 2021, she has served as Chief Strategy Officer at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, where she leads the company’s growth strategy with a focus on business development, new product acquisitions, portfolio expansion, and product lifecycle management. Prior to joining Catalyst, Dr. Sundaram held leadership positions at Sanofi starting in 2005, across various therapeutic areas and business units. She served in various leadership roles, including Global Clinical Research Director, Global Project Head, and Global Head, Medical Operations for the General Medicines business unit. She also held positions at Abbott Laboratories, Covance, and Neurovision prior to her tenure at Sanofi. Dr. Sundaram holds several prestigious degrees, including a Bachelor of Science in Optometry from the Elite School of Optometry & BITS (India), a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Madras (India), a Doctorate in Optometry from Anglia Ruskin University (UK), and an Executive Business Master’s from the London Business School. With this appointment, Cilcare strengthens its commitment to transforming hearing care and improving the quality of life for patients with hearing disorders. Press contact Marie Peytavy, Marketing & Communication Director: marie.peytavy@cilcare.com About Cilcare Cilcare is a biotechnology company specializing in auditory sciences, developing cutting-edge solutions for the characterization, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing disorders and associated diseases. Founded by three visionary entrepreneurs, the company now employs a team of 45 international collaborators, supported by a scientific advisory board. Since its creation in 2014, Cilcare has dedicated itself to addressing these global challenges by combining an advanced R&D platform, a promising drug candidate portfolio, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to characterize various forms of hearing loss. For the past 10 years, Cilcare has also made its technology available to industry leaders and researchers in Europe, the United States, and Asia to accelerate the development of drugs, gene and cell therapies, and medical devices for hearing disorders. Link to Press Release (French Version) Link to Press Release (English version)

NEWS RELEASE: Avania Appoints Recognized CRO and MedTech Industry Leader, Jason Monteleone, as New President and CEO BILTHOVEN, Netherlands; BOSTON – Avania — the leading global MedTech clinical research organization (CRO) providing product development, market access, and clinical contract research services — announces the appointment of Jason Monteleone as president and CEO, effective September 2, 2024. Monteleone succeeds Sapna Hornyak, who had served as president and CEO since 2019. Under Hornyak’s leadership, Avania developed a strong, integrated global MedTech platform, which Jason will further enhance through growth initiatives, deeper therapeutic specialization, and innovation to solidify Avania’s position as a leading MedTech CRO. With over 25 years of experience in the CRO, medical device, and life sciences sectors, Monteleone brings deep expertise in driving growth, innovation, and operational excellence. From 2017 until 2021, Monteleone was CEO of Clinipace, a global midsize CRO, where revenue increased 65% under his tenure before being acquired by dMed in April 2021. While chief financial officer at Theorem Clinical Research, a global midsize CRO focused on pharmaceutical and medical device studies, revenue and head count doubled before being acquired by Chiltern International in September 2015. Most recently, Monteleone served as president of Ancillare, a global provider of ancillary supplies and equipment for clinical trials. Additionally, Monteleone is a board member and audit chair for the Drug Information Association (DIA), the leading global multidisciplinary life science membership association driving collaboration in drug, device, and diagnostic development in pursuit of a healthier world. Monteleone founded Pivotal Financial Consulting, advising investors and companies in clinical research on acquisitions, growth strategies, and innovation. He was also director of finance at VIASYS Healthcare, a publicly traded medical device company, before its acquisition by Cardinal Health and merger into CareFusion. “I am honored to join Avania and lead this exceptional team at such an exciting time in our industry,” said Monteleone. “Avania partners with some of the world’s most innovative companies in numerous therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, neurology, orthopedics, and aesthetics to name a few. The privilege to assist our customers in developing life-changing products for patients is the reason we are passionate about what we do, driving us to innovate, collaborate, and deliver excellence in every project.” Todd Pope, chairman of Avania’s board, added, “I look forward to working closely with Jason as he leads Avania to continue making a positive impact for our customers, employees, and the MedTech community. The executive team and board are excited about the future as we bring Avania to the forefront of innovation and operational excellence.” Edouard Pillot, partner and co-head of Astorg Mid-Cap, the majority shareholder in Avania, remarked, “We are excited to welcome Jason as Avania’s new CEO. His exceptional track record of driving growth and operational excellence, combined with his experience in scaling businesses, make him the perfect leader for Avania’s next phase. With deep expertise in the CRO and MedTech industries, Jason will drive innovation and deliver distinctive solutions for our customers. We look forward to seeing Avania create long-term value for its stakeholders under his leadership.” About Avania Avania is a leading, global full-service contract research organization focused on the management of clinical studies for medical devices, IVDs, biologics, and device-drug combination products internationally. Avania supports products from the first-in-human phase through the post-market phase with the same customized approach. When you need to advance your medical technology, it takes Avania. Avania’s vision is to be your trusted global partner in the evolution of your medical technology from innovation to commercialization to improving patient health and well-being. The opinions expressed in this news release are the author’s only and do not necessarily reflect those of Medical Design & Outsourcing or its employees.

Labcorp’s testing capabilities are getting a little broader with the $237.5 million acquisition of certain laboratory assets from BioReference Health, a subsidiary of Opko Health. The BioReference assets going to Labcorp span clinical diagnostics and reproductive women’s health across the U.S. and account for about $100 million in annual revenue. The deal announced Thursday excludes those assets in New York and New Jersey, where BioReference will continue to maintain its full operations. BioReference will also continue to offer oncology and urology diagnostic services nationwide. Burlington, North Carolina-based Labcorp was founded as a laboratory testing company in 1969. In 2015, it entered drug development services through the $6.2 billion acquisition of Covance, a contract research organization. Labcorp has now once again become a laboratory-focused company after spinning off its former clinical trial services business last year. That standalone company is now known as Fortrea. Acquisitions continue to be part of Labcorp’s growth strategy. In its 2023 annual report, Labcorp said it is looking for acquisitions that strengthen its scientific capabilities and enhance therapeutic expertise, enhance esoteric testing and global drug development capabilities, and increase its presence in key geographic areas. In a note sent to investors, Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny characterized Labcorp’s buyout of the BioReference assets as a prudent use of capital and part of a balanced capital deployment strategy. He added that the acquisition continues the smaller tuck-in deals strategy pursued by both Labcorp and peer lab testing giant Quest Diagnostics, both of which are acquiring regional labs or hospital outreach labs. “Today’s BioReference asset purchase fits nicely into that theme, as deals of this kind tend to generate strong (and predictable) ROIs,” Cherny wrote, referring to returns on investment. Meanwhile, BioReference executives say selling assets to Labcorp enables it to streamline its laboratory services business while still retaining core operations. In a prepared statement, Opko Chairman and CEO Philip Frost said the transaction “is part of our previously announced effort to re-establish profitability at our clinical laboratory business while at the same time better positioning Opko as an innovative biopharmaceutical company.” The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year.