Cardiovascular Disease

Revealing new opportunities in cardiovascular drug development

Beating cardiovascular disease requires a strategic, scientific approach; from tracking changing disease patterns in an aging population to developing cutting-edge approaches to disease management, it’s no easy task. That's why you need a trusted partner who keeps pace with the rapidly evolving marketplace and has vast experience with small molecules, device-based therapeutics and biologics. At Labcorp, our dedicated cardiovascular specialists have a unique combination of both academic and industry experience that provides you with insightful study design, predictive study management and operational service excellence. 

Enable success by leveraging cardiology expertise and precision delivery

The primary reason for late-stage drug failure in cardiovascular trials is the inability to document improvement in outcomes. Therefore, we begin working with you as early as the preclinical phase to design outcomes oriented programs that help minimize risk and maximize your chance for success. 

• Get answers on safety earlier using our nonclinical cardiovascular safety assessment techniques and gain critical information for your “go/no-go” decision

• Add value to your study through our experience in cardiac ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear scanning and computed tomography (CT) angiography by capitalizing on our team of physicians who currently serve, or have served, as academic and core imaging laboratory directors

• Validate your drug’s safety and efficacy by proactively identifying biomarkers—assays, multicomponent panels or imaging-based—that are most predictive of risk or success

• Go beyond surrogate biomarkers by demonstrating actual improvements in cardiovascular outcomes with well-designed trials

• Reach your clinical development goals faster with specialized design and conduct of Phase I–Phase IV trials across a wide range of small molecules, devices and biologics including genetic therapies, peptides, enzyme replacement and stem cells

We are all about outcomes

Navigating the specific complexities of cardiovascular mega-trials is a big challenge. Success often depends on investigator interest and recruitment of appropriate patient populations. To point you toward success, we have partnered with cardiovascular academic research organizations who provide both medical and scientific leadership as well as insight into investigator and site quality. This partnership, in combination with Labcorp's proprietary Xcellerate® knowledgebase—the world’s largest database of site selection and clinical laboratory data—enables you to identify patients for your trial faster, saving valuable time and money.

Once your trial is up and running, we will help to further reduce your timelines through proven operational efficiencies learned from prior successes in more than 200 global clinical endpoint trials.

End-to-end cardiology solutions aligned with your needs

We deliver a holistic suite of services for cardiovascular drug development. From lead optimization through commercialization, we have the expertise and resources to help manage the complexity of your molecule and transform your results. 

• Central Labs
• Early Clinical/Phase IIa
• Expanded Lab Management Solutions
• In Vivo Pharmacology
• Lead Optimization Non-GLP Toxicology
• Managed Markets Services
• Biomarker Solution Center

• Market Access Consulting
• Pediatrics
• Phase IIb/III Services
• Pharmacology
• Translational Biomarkers

Connect With a Cardiovascular Expert

If you have a question for one of our cardiology experts, please click the button below. 

Cheerag Shirodaria, MD, MBA
Vice President and Cardiovascular Global Therapeutic Area Head
Honorary Consultant Cardiologist Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr. Cheerag Shirodaria joined Labcorp in 2011 and has pursued clinical cardiology and intensive cardiac care in a University of Oxford academic practice for more than a decade. As an interventional cardiologist, he provides expertise at Labcorp in all aspects of coronary artery disease, in particular acute coronary syndrome and device therapies. He is also an expert in cardiac imaging, having completed his doctoral thesis on the use of novel MRI-based imaging techniques to assess vascular function.

Dr. Shirodaria also serves as the co-director of the cardiac CT imaging program at the University of Oxford, where he remains on the faculty. He has successfully designed and led a number of stem cell trials in the acute myocardial infarction population and is a member of the trial steering committee for numerous trials. 

Jonathan Plehn, MD, FACC
Vice President, Cardiovascular Medicine
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Drexel University School of Medicine

Dr. Jonathan Plehn moved to Labcorp from the Translational Medicine Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2008, following over 25 years of academic medical practice and research. Dr. Plehn’s research focus has been in heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and vascular disease. He has directed heart failure programs at George Washington University, the National Naval Medical Center and the NHLBI. He is NIH-trained in cardiac MRI and has directed several academic cardiac ultrasound clinical and core laboratories, including establishing the first two-dimensional echo lab at the Framingham Heart Study.

Dr. Plehn has participated as both an investigator and as a manager of a wide range of clinical trials. These have ranged from small proof of concept trials in rare diseases and novel molecules and biologics to Phase III pivotal cardioavascular outcomes trials. At the same time, he maintains his academic contacts continuing to publish and review manuscripts from top cardiology journals and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Cardiac Failure.