WILMINGTON, N.C., (March 31, 2011) - PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) today announced it has been chosen as a preferred provider to a consortium of 14 global health Product Development Partners (PDPs) to bring safe, new medicines to the developing world. PPD will have the opportunity to work closely with the PDPs to deliver global clinical research and development services that advance global health in the world’s poorest countries.
PPD is expected to provide a broad range of discovery, clinical development and post-approval services for drug and vaccine development. The company will strengthen local research capacities through program and site management, trial monitoring, specialized laboratory services and training programs. PPD will be in a position to support health initiatives for infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and for neglected diseases such as visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and Human African trypanosomiasis.
“PPD is committed to enhancing health care worldwide by delivering the safest, most reliable drug discovery and development services,” said David Grange, chief executive officer of PPD. “Our company has a long history of supporting global government and public health initiatives, and we are pleased to share our clinical research capabilities with consortium members to help get safe, effective medicines to those who need them.”
Megan Paye, vice president of government and public health services for PPD, added, “This initiative aligns with PPD’s extensive experience in neglected tropical diseases and supports our mission of expanding work with nonprofit organizations to improve global health.” She added, “Having worked in infrastructure-constrained settings, PPD will bring unique site evaluation, capacity planning/site management, physician relationships, and multinational global regulatory and quality strategies to benefit the PDPs in advancing their drug development programs.”
PPD has experience with more than 900 government and public health drug development projects in multiple disease indications in Africa, Latin America and Asia during the past 21 years. The company has provided extensive laboratory, clinical development, program management, and training and quality services to government and nongovernment organizations in areas such as infectious diseases, vaccines, biodefense, HIV therapeutics and prevention, and autoimmune and asthma/allergic diseases.
The first PDPs were established in the late 1990s to address the widening gap in the development of new, safe and innovative medicines and vaccines for diseases of the developing world - a largely unattractive market from a commercial perspective. Backed by funding from a number of sources, the PDP business model leverages the expertise from industrial partners along with academic excellence and public sector knowledge to radically improve the health care available to achieve their mission.
The PDPs are each funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing drug discovery, development and lifecycle management services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 44 countries and more than 11,000 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. Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions contained in this news release, including expectations and assumptions about the company’s selection as a preferred provider to the global health product development partnership consortium, 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. In addition, other important factors which could cause results to differ materially include the following: continued success in sales growth; loss of large contracts; increased cancellation rates; economic conditions and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government industry segments; competition within the outsourcing industry; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with and dependence on collaborative relationships; risks associated with acquisitions and investments, such as impairments; rapid technological advances that make our products and services less competitive; risks that we may not continue our dividend policy; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for PPD, copies of which are available free of charge upon request from the PPD investor relations department.
Contacts
Media:
Sue Ann Pentecost
+1 919 456 5890
sueann.pentecost@ppdi.com
Analysts/Investors:
Luke Heagle
+1 910 558 7585
luke.heagle@ppdi.com
