WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq:PPD), a leading global contract research organization, and Lupus Therapeutics (LT), an affiliate of the Lupus Research Alliance known for its lupus clinical trials expertise, have entered into a collaboration to expand and enhance lupus clinical research for PPD’s pharmaceutical and biotech customers.

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Through the collaboration, PPD can provide enhanced protocol and trial optimization capabilities for its customers, drawing on LT’s scientific, operational and drug development expertise, as well as LT’s preferred investigators and Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) sites. In turn, in association with PPD, LT can provide patients with greater access to novel medicines and clinical care.

PPD’s immunology team has a dedicated group of experienced professionals with extensive lupus expertise, along with board-certified rheumatologists with industry and in-house experience in efficacy reviews, safety monitoring and site training for SLE trials. Through this collaboration, PPD has access to the more than 50 LuCIN research sites with over 200 affiliated investigators, who collectively see more than 20,000 active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

“Lupus Therapeutics is an exemplary organization to collaborate with because of its extensive lupus expertise,” said Karen Kaucic, M.D., PPD’s chief medical officer. “With site staff who have experience across multiple studies, a known, reliable network of investigators and sites ready to initiate clinical trials awarded work, and an established track record of success in this therapeutic area, we believe the collaboration between Lupus Therapeutics and PPD within immunology will play an important role in treating lupus.”

Through this joint endeavor, PPD and its customers will benefit from the LT Patient Advocates for Lupus Studies (PALS) program, through which patient-to-patient interactions facilitate and improve clinical trial education and awareness for ongoing trial activities at participating LT centers.

“With the urgent need for new lupus treatments, we look forward to working with PPD on ways to accelerate and optimize the development of lupus clinical research,” said Albert T. Roy, executive director, Lupus Therapeutics. “We anticipate that the combined scientific, operational and drug development expertise within our two organizations will significantly increase the efficiency of lupus trials and enable us to obtain the lupus community’s perspective to incorporate into studies while they are being designed. Our goal is to deliver new therapies as quickly as possible that meet patients’ priorities.”

Lupus is a chronic condition in which a person’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs, causing inflammation that can damage any part of the body. Lupus is difficult to diagnose because its signs and symptoms can imitate a wide variety of other ailments.

Some of the key indications that Lupus Therapeutics addresses include SLE, lupus nephritis, chronic cutaneous (discoid) lupus, subacute cutaneous lupus, acute cutaneous lupus and central nervous system lupus.

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 more than 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.ppd.com.

About Lupus Therapeutics

Lupus Therapeutics is an affiliate of the Lupus Research Alliance, which aims to transform treatment while advancing toward a cure by financing the most innovative lupus research in the world. The organization’s stringent peer review grant process fosters diverse scientific talent who are driving discovery toward better diagnostics, improved treatments and ultimately a cure for lupus. Because the Lupus Research Alliance board of directors fund all administrative and fundraising costs, 100% of all donations goes to support lupus research programs. For additional information about the Lupus Alliance Network, visit www.lupusresearch.org.

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 and Quarterly Report on form 10-Q, which is available on our website at https://investors.ppd.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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