Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) is a global

contract research organization In the life sciences, a contract research organization (CRO) is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provid ...

(CRO) providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. In December 2021, PPD became a wholly owned subsidiary of

Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American life science and clinical research company. It is a global supplier of analytical instruments, clinical development solutions, specialty diagnostics, laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology s ...

History

PPD was founded by Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., as a one-person consulting firm in 1985. The following year, he expanded the company's scope to include development services and relocated operations from Maryland to North Carolina. * July 1985: Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., founds PPD as a one-person consulting firm based in his home in Maryland. * 1986: Eshelman expands the company and relocates operations to Wilmington, North Carolina. * January 1989: The company incorporates in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. * January 1996: PPD issues its initial public stock offering and begins trading on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

National Market System under the symbol PPDI. * October 2005: PPD's board of directors adopts an annual cash dividend policy. * July 2009: The company promotes Eshelman to executive chairman and names David Grange chief executive officer. * January 2010: The company commemorates the 25th anniversary of its founding. * June 2010: PPD spins off its compound partnering division as a new and independent publicly traded company, Furiex Pharmaceuticals. * May 2011: David Grange retires as chief executive officer of PPD. * September 2011: PPD's board of directors names Raymond Hill as PPD's new chief executive officer. * December 2011: The company is acquired by affiliates of

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

and affiliates of

Hellman & Friedman Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) is an American private equity firm, founded in 1984 by Warren Hellman and Tully Friedman, that makes investments primarily through leveraged buyouts as well as growth capital investments. H&F has focused its efforts ...

in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. * May 2012: PPD's board of directors names David Simmons as chairman and CEO. * August 2013: PPD acquires Acurian. * December 2014: PPD announces an agreement with SNBL to form a joint venture to provide full range of clinical development services in Japan. * May 2015: PPD expands network of U.S.-based research sites via strategic relationship with Radiant. * June 2016: PPD expands network of global research sites via strategic relationship with Synexus. * September 2016: PPD acquires Evidera. * April 2017:

and affiliates of

enter into definitive agreements to recapitalize PPD and expand the company's ownership to include two new investors, a subsidiary of the

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, founded to invest funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi. It manages the emirate's excess oil reserves a ...

and an affiliate of

GIC Private Limited GIC Private Limited is a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund that manages the country's foreign reserves. Established by the Government of Singapore in 1981 as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, from which the acronym "GIC" is ...

, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. * July 2018: PPD launches new site solution. * July 2018: Synexus announces U.S.-based registry to power major longitudinal study on brain aging. * February 2019: PPD inks deal with China's HLT to create data science-driven research solutions. * May 2019: PPD's Evidera acquires RWE provider Medimix. * September 2019: PPD's Accelerated Enrollment Solutions acquires global site business from Bioclinica. * February 2020: PPD issues its initial public stock offering and begins trading on the

Global Select Market under the symbol PPD. * April 2021:

announces plans to acquire PPD for $17.4 billion. * December 2021: Thermo Fisher Scientific completes the acquisition of PPD.

Location

PPD has its headquarters in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company has more than 27,000 employees. As of December 2021, PPD became a wholly owned subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific, based in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

References

External links

* {{authority control, state=expanded Thermo Fisher Scientific Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Contract research organizations Companies based in Wilmington, North Carolina Health care companies based in North Carolina American companies established in 1985 Pharmaceutical companies established in 1985 1985 establishments in Maryland 1996 initial public offerings 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2020 initial public offerings 2021 mergers and acquisitions American corporate subsidiaries The Carlyle Group companies Private equity portfolio companies