PPD, Inc. Achieves CEO Cancer Gold Standard Reaccreditation

WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD) today announced it has achieved CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ reaccreditation from the nonprofit CEO Roundtable on Cancer for maintaining a strong commitment to the health of company employees.

“PPD is committed to the fight against cancer”

PPD encourages employee participation in health and wellness programs, including cancer prevention and screening, nutrition coaching and fitness classes, to promote healthy lifestyles and empower employees to take an active role in managing their health.

“PPD is committed to the fight against cancer,” said David Simmons, chairman and chief executive officer of PPD. “As a global contract research organization with deep expertise in oncology, we are dedicated to helping biopharmaceutical clients deliver safe treatments to patients more quickly, cost-effectively and with the highest possible quality. We’re pleased the CEO Roundtable on Cancer has recognized our efforts in employee health and wellness, and we applaud their worthy mission.”

Hematology and oncology form one of PPD’s leading therapeutic areas for clinical research. PPD has conducted in excess of 420 hematology and oncology studies in the past five years at more than 23,000 research sites involving greater than 100,000 patients. PPD has a global network of more than 8,000 hematology and oncology investigators.

PPD provides a tobacco-free workplace, health screenings, education and promotion of healthy lifestyles and other initiatives critical to helping detect and prevent cancer.

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer developed the Gold Standard as an employee wellness framework based on concrete actions for companies to take in five key areas: establishing policies and programs to reduce cancer risk by prohibiting tobacco use and supporting tobacco cessation efforts; promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition and weight management; providing health insurance options that include detecting cancer at its earliest stages, access to quality care and participation in clinical trials; promoting employee awareness of these initiatives; and supporting the needs of cancer survivors in the workplace.

Nearly 200 private, nonprofit and government employers in a wide range of occupational categories have earned Gold Standard accreditation, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a number of NCI-designated cancer centers.

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 14,000 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 PPD’s employee health and wellness programs and its CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation 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; risks associated with and dependence on strategic relationships; risks associated with acquisitions and investments; 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; loss, delay or modification of large contracts; higher-than-expected cancellation rates; the rate of conversion of backlog into revenue; consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; rapid technological advances that make our services or capabilities less competitive; the ability to control SG&A spending; compliance with drug development regulations; changes in the regulation of the drug development process; and actual operating performance. 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.