SAS, ThotWave Deliver Business Intelligence to Enhance Drug Development; Covance Deploys SAS® Enterprise BI Server to Expand Reporting and Analysis Companywide

Business Wire, Oct 11, 2005

CARY, N.C. -- SAS, the leader in business intelligence, and ThotWave Technologies LLC announced today that they are partnering to bring the power of business intelligence to Covance Inc., one of the world's leading drug development services organizations.

Based on ThotWave's recommendation and experience with SAS, Covance has licensed SAS(R) Enterprise BI Server to take its company intelligence to a higher level by putting critical data in the hands of many more users and decision makers throughout the global company.

"SAS Enterprise BI Server is designed to give non technical users fast and simple access to important information and reporting capabilities, and allow IT to provide more consistent information for more accuracy in decision making," said Greg Nelson, president and CEO of ThotWave Technologies, a SAS Alliance Partner. "After consulting with Covance, it became clear to us that one of their goals, to expand the power of SAS data analytics to decision makers throughout the company, was an ideal fit with SAS business intelligence software and its simplified user interfaces and easy access to powerful analytics."

Covance provides a portfolio of pre-clinical and clinical development and commercial service offerings, delivered through industry-leading nonclinical testing services, the world's largest central laboratory network, and a global team of clinical trial professionals and cardiac safety experts.

"ThotWave has provided valuable guidance and insight to us with regards to how we can leverage the value of SAS Enterprise BI Server throughout our global organization," said Michael Walega, Executive Director of Biometrics at Covance. "We believe the expertise and advice of both ThotWave and SAS will ultimately help us enhance our ability to provide the best drug development solutions possible for our clients."

SAS is the software of choice for every life sciences firm in the FORTUNE Global 500(R). SAS Enterprise BI Server, a major component of the SAS(R)9 Intelligence Platform, creates an integrated enterprise architecture that empowers users at all skill levels across an organization to support their individual needs. SAS Enterprise BI Server provides a suite of enterprisewide ad hoc query and reporting capabilities, complementing the power of SAS analytics and data integration to create an easy-to-use offering that's unique to the BI marketplace.

"ThotWave is a well-respected adviser to SAS and to the life sciences industry, and has always put the customer's interests first. So when they recommended SAS Enterprise BI Server to a reputable company like Covance, Covance listened. Such a recommendation is a powerful thing when it comes to increased confidence in decision making," said Anne Milley, director of technology product marketing at SAS. "That kind of confidence is especially important when the goals are improving patient health and saving lives."

Greg Nelson of ThotWave and Andy York of Covance will give a joint presentation on Wednesday, October 12 at the first annual PhUSE conference in Heidelberg, Germany. They will be presenting a paper written by Nelson and Covance's Michael Walega entitled, "Designing Global SAS(R) 9 Architecture for Clinical Trials Analysis and Reporting." For more information on the PhUSE conference ("Pharmaceutical Users Software Exchange: The Knowledge Exchange for SAS Professionals"), please visit: http://www.phuse.info/.> About ThotWave Technologies LLC

ThotWave Technologies, LLC is a Cary, NC-based consultancy and a market leader in real-time decision support, specializing in regulated industries such as life sciences, energy and financial services. ThotWave recognizes the difference between simply accessing data and making data work for business, and works at the juncture of business and technology to help companies improve their operational and strategic performance. Through products, partnerships and services, ThotWave enables businesses to leverage data for faster, more intelligent decision making. For more information, visit the company Web site at: http://www.thotwave.com/.> About SAS

SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at about 40,000 sites - including 96 of the top 100 companies on the FORTUNE Global 500(R) - to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For nearly three decades, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know(R). Visit us at www.sas.com.

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright (C) 2005 SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.