PPD Opens Office in Japan

WILMINGTON, N.C. (April 21, 2009)-PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) today announced the opening of an office in Tokyo, Japan, expanding its Phase II-IV clinical development services in response to growing client demand in East Asia. PPD will provide clinical management services in key therapeutic areas from this location.

The office strengthens PPD's operations in the country, where it has worked regionally and through a subcontractor. Japan has emerged as an important, high-growth area for clinical research as initiations for global clinical trials have increased significantly over the past few years.  

"Japan offers competitive timelines for site startup and patient enrollment, and the government is making major improvements to streamline drug development, bringing Japan's regulatory timelines more in line with the rest of the world," said Fred Eshelman, chief executive officer of PPD. "With our clients increasingly including Japan in their global drug development programs, having a base of operations in Tokyo will enable us to better meet their growing needs."

The office is located at Shinjuku Nomura Building 32 F, 1-26-2 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0532. For more information about PPD services provided from the Tokyo office, call +81 5322 2051.

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 approximately 10,500 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 opening of this new office and our globalization strategy, 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: 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; continued success in sales growth; loss of large contracts; increased cancellation rates; 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.