Constella Group to Continue Support of NIEHS' National Toxicology Program through Win of Five-Year Contract.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Constella Group, LLC, a leading global provider of professional health services, has won a five-year, $21 million contract with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to support the National Toxicology Program (NTP). NTP is a federal program established in 1978 to evaluate the potential toxicity of various chemicals and other agents that are of public health concern.

The new contract combines two contracts in statistical and computer support and continues the company's long-standing relationship with NIEHS. Constella has held the statistical contract since 1986 and the computer support contract since 2000.

"We are extremely pleased to continue our 19-year relationship with NIEHS," said Donald A. Holzworth, Constella Group chairman and CEO. "As our oldest client, NIEHS has provided a foundation for us to grow our environmental health expertise and to work toward our vision of enhancing human health around the world, every day."

For the statistical contract component, Constella provides data analyses for chronic, subchronic and reproductive studies conducted by the NTP. It also provides statistical support for epidemiological and other human studies conducted by the Institute, develops mathematical models for biological processes, analyzes genomics data, develops mathematical and statistical methods for toxicological applications and publishes scientific papers in the Institute's fields of interest.

The information-technology part of the contract involves ongoing program support for the Toxicology Data Management System Enterprise, a comprehensive, Web-based system that Constella developed for NTP to store all program data and to assist in analyzing data through multiple reporting functions.

"This work is a key element of our goal to be a preeminent solutions provider in the area of environmental health," said Chris LeGrand, president of Constella Health Sciences, the business unit leading the contract. "Through this contract, we will continue to build on our statistical and information technology capabilities while helping NIEHS continue to reach its health-centered mission."

To learn more about NIEHS and NTP, visit the Institute's Web site at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/ and the NTP's Web site at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov.

About Constella Group, LLC

Constella Group is a leading provider of professional health services worldwide, dedicated to enhancing human health around the world, every day. Constella's three business units--Health Sciences, Futures Group and Clinical Informatics--create and provide health intelligence to help industry and government clients identify and solve critical problems affecting human health. Headquartered in Durham, N.C., the company has approximately 1,100 employees with offices in 35 countries throughout the world. For more information, visit www.constellagroup.com and www.futuresgroup.com.