WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq:PPDI) today announced Simon Britton, vice president of clinical development, Asia Pacific, will present at the CHINATRIALS 2009 Global Clinical Development Summit in Beijing on November 8-10. His panel presentation will provide insight to clinical development professionals on creating the best clinical strategy for China and East Asia. PPD is the platinum sponsor of this year’s event.

Britton will join a panel of experts in discussing needs and requirements biopharmaceutical companies should consider in determining the most effective drug development strategy for China, a country experiencing rapid clinical development growth. The panel will evaluate how to engage local and multinational clinical research organizations (CROs) in developing this strategy and cover a wide range of CRO relationship management topics, including identifying, selecting and negotiating with the right CRO and creating a CRO oversight plan. The presentation is Tuesday, November 10, at 11:10 a.m. UTC.

PPD today announced it has completed its acquisition of Excel PharmaStudies, the market leader and one of the largest contract research organizations in China. Excel’s more than 300 employees have joined PPD. The acquisition provides PPD additional capacity and expertise in this rapidly growing market and positions the company to deliver a broad set of services to biopharmaceutical companies through Asia Pacific.

Mark Engel, co-founder of Excel, is also a featured speaker at CHINATRIALS. He will present on lessons learned in conducting large-scale clinical trials in China, discussing management and government oversight challenges. His presentation is Tuesday, November 10, at 1:10 p.m. UTC.

CHINATRIALS is China’s largest clinical development event, providing leaders from biopharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations and government an opportunity to learn about a broad range of topics in conducting clinical development in the country.

PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing discovery, development and post-approval services as well as compound partnering programs. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 38 countries and more than 10,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help its clients and partners maximize returns on their R&D investments and accelerate the delivery of safe and effective therapeutics to patients. For more information, visit our Web site at http://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 value of the information presented during this presentation, 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 the development and commercialization of drugs, including earnings dilution and obtaining regulatory approval; 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.