WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD) today announced it has appointed Yasumasa Kurioka as general manager of PPD-SNBL, the joint venture formed between PPD and Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories Ltd. (SNBL) earlier this year to expand clinical development services in Japan.
"Yasu brings extensive clinical operations leadership experience, as well as significant scientific expertise to his position," said Paul Colvin, executive vice president of clinical development at PPD and chairman and chief executive officer of PPD-SNBL. "I am confident he will implement innovative operational strategies that will enable PPD-SNBL to use its extensive resources, long-term experience and local expertise to further meet its clients' needs in this important global market."
Ryoichi Nagata, M.D., Ph.D., chairman and president of SNBL and president of PPD-SNBL, said Kurioka's appointment will help the company generate additional opportunities in Japan. "As one of the largest clinical development service providers in Japan, PPD-SNBL already is uniquely positioned to help its clients seize opportunities in this thriving market. Yasu's wealth of local knowledge and expertise from his years of experience in this market will enhance our already strong operational position."
A biopharmaceutical industry veteran, Kurioka most recently served as the senior director, country head of clinical operations in Japan, for another global contract research organization. During the 20 years prior to that, he held a variety of clinical research, project management and operations leadership roles with Eli Lilly and Company and the former Ciba-Geigy in Japan. He holds a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in microbiology, both from Hiroshima University in Japan.
As announced late last year, the joint venture combines SNBL's clinical research division and PPD's clinical developmentoperations in Japan and provides a full range of services, including Phase I-IV clinical trial monitoring, project management,biostatistics, site intelligence and activation, data management, medical writing, pharmacovigilance, regulatory and FSPservices.
With offices in Tokyo, Osaka and Kagoshima, and approximately 400 clinical development professionals, the joint venture brings together PPD's global resources and clinical trial expertise with SNBL's nearly 20-year history and in-depth knowledge of providing clinical development services for biopharmaceutical companies in Japan.
About PPD
PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing drug discovery, development, lifecycle management andlaboratory services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and governmentorganizations. With offices in 46 countries and more than 14,500 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.
About SNBL
For more than 55 years, SNBL has been a leader in providing development services to biopharmaceutical companies, generating high quality data with the exceptional precision needed to rapidly advance new medical therapies and innovations that improve patients' lives. In addition to providing services, SNBL has a translational research business, which utilizes its development capabilities to develop value-adding technologies and provides them to the pharmaceutical and medical industry. For further information about SNBL, please visit www.snbl.com.
PPD Forward-Looking Statement
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions, including statements, expectations and assumptions about PPD-SNBL's new general manager, 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; risks associated with acquisitions, investments and joint ventures; 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; risks associated with and dependence on strategic relationships; actual operating performance; 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; consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; 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.
Contacts
PPD
Media:
Randy Buckwalter (Global)
+1 919 456 4425
[email protected]
or
Kazuhiro Hoshi / Yuko Sakanishi (Japan)
+81 3 5427 7334/7376
[email protected]
[email protected]
or
Investors:
Nate Speicher
+1 910 558 6783
[email protected]