WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPD), a leading global contract research organization, has been recognized for industry leadership in digital and decentralized clinical trial solutions by Information Services Group (ISG), a leading global technology research and advisory firm. ISG recognized PPD as an ISG Provider Lens Leader for digital transformation services, specifically PPD’s clinical development and patient engagement solutions.

In its 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Life Sciences Digital Services Global Report, ISG recognized PPD with its clinical development designation based on PPD’s strengths in supporting clinical innovation, including deep domain expertise combined with digital knowledge; integration as a focus area; an extensive partner ecosystem; and comprehensive compliance with regulations. The patient engagement recognition is a reflection of PPD strengths in services focused on the patient experience; sophisticated solutions for patient enrollment; and an integrated patient and site education strategy.

“PPD is a clear leader in the move to decentralized clinical trials, a transition that gained additional momentum last year in the face of the pandemic and the need to enhance patient participation and experience,” said Niklas Morton, senior vice president, PPD^® Digital. “At the core of ISG’s findings is our ability to create and implement digitally flexible protocols, tailored to the needs of patients, investigators and customers. This, in turn, can provide time and efficiency benefits, as well as advantages in data quality. In today’s challenging environment, our hybrid and decentralized solutions enable risk mitigation to be built into research plans, while allowing study teams to proactively incorporate digital and decentralized solutions into protocols.”

Digital or decentralized solutions are focused on improving the patient experience, reducing the burden placed on them to participate and broadening access to more patients by reducing the time and travel barriers associated with clinical research participation. Study protocols with these options incorporated are designed to reduce or eliminate the need for patients to visit research sites for screening, enrollment, study assessments and endpoint collection. This can be achieved through the combination of digital and operational solutions, such as electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOAs), remote eConsent, eSource, direct-to-patient supplies, home health care visits, devices/wearables and telemedicine. PPD carefully assesses the individual needs of each protocol and patient population to determine how to best design and implement each trial. In all, PPD won more than 60 new awards across all therapeutic areas in 2020 that leverage the company’s innovative digital trial design and delivery model.

As part of ISG’s Provider Lens designation, PPD received top marks among the 25 service providers ISG assessed across the globe. The honorees were determined following a nine-month research study, in which providers were independently evaluated. The findings – covering defined technology and service categories and industry-specific capabilities – were released in a comprehensive global report.

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 26,000 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.

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.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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