HORSHAM, Pa. & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Accelerated Enrollment Solutions (AES), a business of PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq:PPD), and Science 37, Inc, a leader in virtual clinical trials, are collaborating to recruit and enroll clinical trial participants who live beyond the geographic location of traditional research sites. The companies also are working to rapidly deliver continuity solutions for clinical trials affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of telehealth to remotely screen patients and conduct study visits.

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The collaboration enables AES to provide its customers with increased patient access by reaching beyond its existing, physical site infrastructure of more than 180 research sites. These patients can instead participate in AES studies through Science 37’s Metasite^TM, a hybrid clinical trial methodology that combines traditional site visits with remote trial capabilities, allowing patients located virtually anywhere to participate in a clinical trial. The collaboration also enables Science 37 to extend its investigator network by leveraging AES’ global research network. In total, the collaboration offers multiple combinations of traditional and virtual visits for conducting highly patient-centric trials around the world.

“We are pleased to provide our customers, through our collaboration with Science 37, one of the most advanced, trial-tested approaches to clinical research virtualization,” said Roger Smith, general manager of AES. “By offering the Science 37 Metasite in conjunction with our existing network, we give our customers a taste of the future, while more patients will have the opportunity to participate in trials that might otherwise be unavailable due to location restrictions.”

In addition to managing its global research sites, AES coordinates startup, patient enrollment and study conduct under a single contract via centralized and controlled processes. Concurrently, Science 37 oversees an extensive network of telemedicine investigators, in-home nurses and clinical research coordinators who are connected by a purpose-built, integrated platform to orchestrate virtual trials, also known as decentralized clinical trials.

“Science 37 is already renowned for our ability to conduct fully decentralized trials in the United States,” said David Coman, chief executive officer of Science 37. “Now, by combining with the extensive global reach of AES, we are building on our promise to ‘make virtual the new reality’ nearly anywhere in the world.”

The companies also are mobilizing their capabilities to join the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes helping current clinical trials maintain appropriate levels of patient enrollment and study conduct through telehealth, and expediting hybrid physical/virtual solutions to rapidly recruit and enroll patients in COVID-19 vaccine trials.

About AES

Accelerated Enrollment Solutions is a business of PPD that offers sponsors and contract research organizations distinctive site conduct and patient access solutions. These solutions are available as discrete services or integrated to provide a cohesive and highly differentiated trial acceleration strategy for insourced or outsourced clinical studies, all under results-based commercial terms. For more information, visit www.yourgreenlightmoment.com.

About Science 37

Science 37 is making the promise of virtual trials the new reality. By engaging with patients from the comfort of their own home, we provide access to patients who can never be reached by traditional site-based models. We have proven to enroll faster, retain patients at a higher rate and reach a more representative population. Science 37 has conducted more decentralized, interventional trials than any other company, using an expansive, in-house network of telemedicine investigators and home-health nurses, who are supported by the industry’s most comprehensive, fully integrated, decentralized clinical trial platform. Learn more at Science 37, and follow Science 37 on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About PPD

PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. Our customers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 46 countries and approximately 24,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a firm commitment to quality to help customers bend the cost and time curve of drug development and optimize value in delivering life-changing therapies to improve health. For more information, visit www.ppdi.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements often include words such as “expect,” “believe,” “project,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “target” and other similar expressions. Although we believe these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time they are made, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results, and therefore actual results might differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might materially affect such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the fragmented and highly competitive nature of the drug development services industry; changes in trends in the biopharmaceutical industry; our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes that could make our services less competitive or obsolete; political, economic and/or regulatory influences and changes; and other factors disclosed under the “Risk Factors” section in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available on our website at https://investors.ppdi.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. We assume no obligation and disclaim any duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or make any new forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

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