WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD) today announced it has appointed Andrew Cunningham, Ph.D., as vice president of central laboratory services. Dr. Cunningham brings extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience to PPD’s central laboratories, which are strategically aligned to support all phases of clinical development.
“Andrew’s vision and expertise strengthen PPD’s world-class laboratory services team,” said David Johnston, Ph.D., executive vice president of global laboratory services. “Central labs play a critical role in the drug development process and can drive operational efficiencies as clinical research becomes increasingly complex and geographically distributed. Andrew’s leadership will help ensure we deliver quality data, speed, flexibility and efficiencies to complete projects on time and on budget for our clients.”
PPD integrates comprehensive laboratory testing with Phase I-IV services to provide clients optimal, end-to-end value-chain capabilities, from lead generation through product launch. This approach reduces costs and accelerates drug discovery and development timelines for PPD’s clients. With locations in Belgium, China, Singapore and the United States, PPD’s central labs offer industry-leading services to study sites across the globe.
Dr. Cunningham has held multiple leadership positions in the biopharmaceutical services industry, including most recently at Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories for National Jewish Health. Previously, he was with Celerion, where he provided leadership for first-in-human bioanalytical, bioequivalence and pharmacokinetics studies in a good laboratory practice environment.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Strathclyde and earned a doctorate degree in cell biology from the University of Edinburgh.
About PPD
PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing drug discovery, development, lifecycle management and laboratory services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 46 countries and more than 13,000 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, including statements, expectations and assumptions about this new hire and the future performance of PPD’s central laboratory unit, contained in this news release 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 and could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Other important factors that could cause future results to differ materially include the following: the ability to attract, integrate, retain and train key personnel; competition in the outsourcing industry; PPD’s ability to win new business; overall global economic conditions; economic conditions, research and development spending, and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and government-sponsored research sectors; consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; loss, delay or modification of large contracts; higher-than-expected cancellation rates; the rate of conversion of backlog into revenue; actual operating performance; risks associated with and dependence on strategic relationships; rapid technological advances that make our services or capabilities less competitive; compliance with drug development regulations; changes in the regulation of the drug development process; risks associated with acquisitions and investments; and the ability to control SG&A spending. PPD assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update these forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing PPD’s estimates or views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
