COVALENT GROUP GETS $3.4 MILLION IN NEW BUSINESS AWARDS.

Covalent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGR), Wayne, Pa., has announced the awarding of contracts with five different pharmaceutical companies whose corporate headquarters are located in the United States and Western Europe. Three of these companies are first time clients for Covalent. The total estimated value of the new business awards is $3.4 million. Services will be provided in approximately 20 countries in North America as well as Western, Central and Eastern Europe. Among these services will be clinical trial design consulting, project management, study site management, field operations, regulatory support, data management and medical writing. The therapeutic areas covered by these new business awards include diabetes, respiratory, neurology, and cardiovascular diseases. The term of the awards range from 3 to 24 months.

Kenneth M. Borow, M.D., president and CEO, commented, "We are proud to add three new companies to the Covalent family of clients. These contract awards position Covalent for future additional business with these as well as other clients in the United States and Europe. The inclusion of work in four different therapeutic areas is consistent with Covalent's mission of leadership in the design and conduct of clinical trials across a wide array of disease states. We are particularly encouraged by the geographic distribution of these contract awards and believe that our strategy of pursuing business development opportunities on a multi-national, multi-continent basis is beginning to produce results."

Covalent Group, Inc. is a clinical research organization that is a leader in the design and management of complex clinical trials for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The company's mission is to provide its clients with high quality, full-service support for their clinical trials. Covalent offers therapeutic expertise, experienced team management and advanced technologies. The company has clinical trial experience across a wide variety of therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, endocrinology/metabolism, diabetes, neurology, oncology, immunology, vaccines, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, dermatology, hepatology, women's health and respiratory medicine. Covalent believes that its leadership in the design of complex clinical trials, its application of innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and commitment to quality offer its clients a means to more quickly and cost effectively develop products through the clinical trial process. In addition, the company's use of its proprietary TeleTrial(R) technology to support its drug development services creates consistency in the way it conducts clinical trials globally. With its wholly owned international subsidiary, Covalent Group, Ltd., Covalent is able to meet many of the global drug development needs of its clients.

For more information, call 610/975-9533 or visit http://www.covalentgroup.com.