Quest Diagnostics 2008 Annual Report Download - page 4

wellness and prevention as it is to diagnosing, treating and
monitoring disease. We are the undisputed industry leader.
•฀฀The฀ demographics฀ of฀ the฀ growing฀ and฀ aging฀ population฀
are positive for our industry and our company. As people
age, they require more testing, and we are seeing an
increase in the number of tests ordered for each patient.
•฀฀We฀ have฀ unique฀ assets฀ and฀ capabilities฀ that฀ enable฀ us฀ to฀
better serve patients, physicians and other customers.
•฀฀Our฀ strong฀ financial฀ condition,฀ cash฀ flow฀ and฀
investment grade credit rating provide us the
flexibility to take advantage of growth
opportunities.
•฀฀The฀ advent฀ of฀ personalized฀ medicine฀ enables฀
targeted diagnostic tests to help doctors make
more informed therapy decisions and monitor
the effectiveness of treatment. The pace of inno-
vation in this important area is accelerating,
with the frequent discovery of new biomarkers,
particularly for cancer, that are the basis for new
targeted tests.
•฀฀The฀ U.S.฀ government’s฀ emerging฀ healthcare฀
plan calls for expanding access to screening tests
for wellness and early detection of disease.
•฀฀Employers฀ are฀ recognizing฀ the฀ value฀ of฀ early฀
detection and wellness when it comes to keeping
their employees healthy and productive, as well
as limiting their healthcare spending.
•฀฀Diagnostic฀testing฀is฀a฀large฀and฀still฀fragmented฀industry.฀We฀
have฀only฀15%฀of฀the฀market,฀leaving฀plenty฀of฀room฀to฀grow.฀
The Power of Early Detection of Cancer
Around the world, cancer will take an increasing toll as many
populations extend their lifespans and risk factors that
contribute to cancer become more prevalent in the population.
In฀ 2004,฀ worldwide,฀ 7.4฀ million฀ people฀ died฀ from฀ cancer.฀
The World Health Organization predicts that, without new
approaches, the number of cancer deaths will more than
double฀ to฀ 17฀ million฀ by฀ 2030,฀ when฀ more฀ than฀ 26฀ million฀
people will be living with cancer.
Today, we are the leading cancer diagnostics company,
and perform more cancer tests than anyone else. We have a
tremendous opportunity to build on this powerful position.
Physicians treating cancer patients need a combination of
anatomic pathology services and molecular testing, as well as
routine testing. Our medical and scientific team comprises
approximately฀800฀M.D.s฀and฀100฀Ph.D.s฀who฀review฀patient฀
results, consult with treating physicians and develop new tests.
The cornerstone of improving outcomes for cancer patients
is diagnostics. Diagnostics is an essential tool to monitor
well-being and detect disease early, and it is beginning to
personalize some treatment decisions.
We offer a comprehensive range of cancer tests that diag-
nose฀disease,฀identify฀a฀patient’s฀predisposition฀to฀disease,฀
help doctors select the right therapy or assess the risk of
disease recurrence.
Some diagnostic tests can even reduce pain for patients.
Our Leumeta™ family of tests detects various signs of leuke-
mia and lymphoma in a simple blood sample—without the
need for painful bone marrow biopsies.
One of our key opportunities is the growing need for new
diagnostic tests. We are accelerating our development efforts
to more rapidly turn advances in basic research into benefits
for patients. For example, we see opportunities to introduce
new tests to detect ovarian cancer, which has proven difficult
to detect early, and we have several new diagnostic tests in
QUEST DIAGNOSTICS
02
D I A G N O S T I C testing is the cornerstone of
improving medical outcomes for P A T I E N T S .
OPERATING INCOME
($ in millions)
’04
$881
’05
$1,008
’06
$1,128
’07
$1,091
’08
$1,222