WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD), a leading global contract research organization (CRO), has expanded its vaccine sciences lab in Richmond, Virginia, enhancing its ability to provide industry-leading capabilities to meet biopharmaceutical clients’ growing research needs.
The laboratory expansion continues PPD’s ongoing investments in its Richmond facilities, which also include significant enhancements to its genomics, immunochemistry and automation services in recent years. PPD’s lab operations in Richmond employ nearly 700 people, including Ph.D.-level scientists, analytical laboratory staff and other scientific professionals.
“The recent expansion of our vaccine sciences lab, coupled with previous enhancements to our biologics capabilities, builds on three decades of drug development expertise to support pharmaceutical and vaccine programs from pre-clinical through post-approval,” said Bob Nicholson, senior vice president of PPD® Laboratories. “During that time, we have helped our clients earn FDA approval for 15 vaccine programs and countless pharmaceuticals. We’re confident our laboratory enhancements will enable us to build on that record of success for our customers.”
With nearly 17,000 square feet of new vaccines laboratory space, PPD has added significant capacity for vaccine efficacy testing using techniques such as cell-based assays and immunochemistry.
PPD Laboratories’ vaccine sciences lab, with its unique capabilities within the CRO industry, offers an extensive portfolio of services that support vaccine development. Most notably, those include method development, qualification and validation; extensive statistical and regulatory expertise; and high-throughput, automated and/or multiplex assays. The lab has diverse experience with multiple assay formats, including molecular genomics, immunology, cell-based and functional assays.
The vaccine sciences lab is part of PPD’s Richmond bioanalytical lab, which provides services such as small molecule, biologics and biomarker testing capabilities for all phases of drug development. PPD Laboratories’ operation in Richmond, elements of which have been in operation since 1985, has added about 50,000 square feet in recent years and now totals nearly 200,000 square feet, making it one of the largest bioanalytical labs in the world. Specific drug testing services offered at the lab include: understanding the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of a drug; measuring in vivo absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of the parent drug and its metabolites; monitoring for adverse drug reaction; in vivo ADME testing; dose escalation and ranging studies; immunogenicity; and immune response.
In addition to the vaccine sciences, bioanalytical and biomarker labs in Richmond, PPD Laboratories includes: a bioanalytical lab in Middleton, Wisconsin; GMP (good manufacturing practices) labs in Athlone, Ireland, and Middleton; central labs in Shanghai, China; Brussels, Belgium; Highland Heights, Kentucky; and Singapore; and a biomarker lab in Highland Heights.
About PPD
PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 47 countries and more than 19,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a firm commitment to quality to help clients and partners bend the cost and time curve of drug development to deliver life-changing therapies that improve health. For more information, visit www.ppdi.com.
PPD Forward-looking Statement
Any statements made in this news release that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about the expansion of its vaccine sciences laboratory in Richmond, Virginia, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements often include words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “suggests,” “plan,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimates,” “targets,” “projects,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “forecast” and other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are subject to and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them. Although PPD believes these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time they are made, many factors are beyond PPD’s ability to control or predict and could affect the outcome of the subject matter of this news release and our actual financial results, and therefore the outcome and results might differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.
Additional factors that might materially affect the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the competitive nature of the drug development services industry; changes in trends in the biopharmaceutical industry; our ability to recruit, retain and motivate key personnel; rapid technological changes that make our services less competitive or obsolete; the impacts of political, economic and/or regulatory changes on the health care industry; the fact that our backlog may not accurately predict or convert into service revenue; the termination, delay or change in scope of our contracts; industry, customer or therapeutic concentration; the pricing of and cost management of customer contracts; information and communication systems failures; contractual failures; regulatory and ethical standards failures; our ability to attract investigators and enroll patients in clinical trials; violations of laws governing privacy, conduct of clinical trials and/or other pharmaceutical research; competition between existing and potential customers; management of business restructurings and acquisitions; risk relating to the performance of drug development services and our insurance coverages, if any, for such risks; U.S. or international economic, currency, political and other risks; changes in existing or interpretations of tax laws; factors impacting the value of our goodwill and intangible assets; and other factors.
PPD assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims 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. PPD is not responsible for updating the information contained in this news release beyond the published date, or for changes made to this news release by wire services or internet service providers or any other party.
