PPD, Inc. And ERT Establish Strategic Partnership To Enhance Drug Development

Agreement expands innovative data collection offerings for biopharmaceutical clients

WILMINGTON, N.C. & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD) and ERT today announced a strategic partnership to facilitate delivery of ERT’s comprehensive solutions for patient safety and efficacy endpoint data collection to help biopharmaceutical clients conduct clinical trials in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.

“ERT has an exemplary reputation in providing these services, and this partnership enhances PPD’s development capabilities across all therapeutic areas, with distinct advantages for respiratory, cardiovascular and late phase trials.”

PPD and ERT will work closely throughout all areas of the clinical development process to offer clients efficiencies through alignment of crucial aspects of service delivery, including budget and proposal development, study startup, data management and invoicing.

“ERT’s advanced technology in centralized cardiac safety, respiratory services and clinical outcome assessments (COA) complements PPD’s robust client offerings across our Phase I-IV clinical trials business,” said Paul Colvin, PPD’s executive vice president of clinical development. “ERT has an exemplary reputation in providing these services, and this partnership enhances PPD’s development capabilities across all therapeutic areas, with distinct advantages for respiratory, cardiovascular and late phase trials.”

The agreement with ERT expands PPD's ability to provide high-quality, integrated resources spanning the drug development continuum – from early phase studies through regulatory approval. PPD's operational expertise and global footprint offer ERT an opportunity to expand its reach and provide increased efficiencies in clinical trial deployment as it grows its strong customer base.

“ERT is proud to partner with PPD, a global leader in clinical development,” said Jim Corrigan, president and chief executive officer of ERT. “PPD and ERT share a common vision of transforming drug development through the power of technology and clinical services. The combined expertise, experience and commitment to client success of ERT and PPD will help drive industry innovation and the development of new therapies.”

About PPD

PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing drug discovery, development, lifecycle management and laboratory services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 46 countries and more than 13,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help clients and partners accelerate the delivery of safe and effective therapeutics and maximize the returns on their R&D investments. For more information, visit www.ppdi.com.

About ERT

ERT (www.ert.com) is a leading provider of high-quality patient safety and efficacy data collection solutions for use in clinical drug development and healthcare settings. ERT delivers the most widely deployed solutions in centralized cardiac safety, respiratory services, suicide risk assessment and clinical outcome assessments (COA) – which includes patient, clinician and observer reported outcomes. By efficiently integrating these solutions through a system built upon a scientific and regulatory foundation, ERT is able to increase the accuracy and reliability of patient data that it collects, analyzes and delivers. ERT is a global organization with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pa., and offices throughout the U.S., U.K., Japan and Germany.

PPD Forward-Looking Statement

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions, including statements, expectations and assumptions about the PPD and ERT partnership, contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although PPD attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based and could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Other important factors that could cause future results to differ materially include the following: the ability to attract, integrate, retain and train key personnel; competition in the outsourcing industry; rapid technological advances that make our services or capabilities less competitive; compliance with drug development regulations; changes in the regulation of the drug development process; PPD’s ability to win new business; overall global economic conditions; economic conditions, research and development spending, and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and government-sponsored research sectors; consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; loss, delay or modification of large contracts; higher-than-expected cancellation rates; the rate of conversion of backlog into revenue; risks associated with and dependence on strategic relationships; actual operating performance; risks associated with acquisitions and investments; and the ability to control SG&A spending. PPD assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update these forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing PPD’s estimates or views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.