SUZHOU, China– PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPD), a leading global contract research organization, held a grand opening ceremony for its new multipurpose laboratory in Suzhou, China, to support Western and China-based pharmaceutical and biotech companies managing China research studies. The 67,000-square-foot facility in the Suzhou New District, Jiangsu Province, offers bioanalytical, biomarker and vaccine laboratory services to support trials across all phases of pharmaceutical development. The company anticipates adding approximately 300 highly skilled professionals over the next three years as a result of the expansion. This new lab supplements the company’s existing Shanghai central lab, established in 2015.
“With our new state-of-the-art operations, the latest instrumentation and high-throughput automation, we are further equipped to provide high-quality results and data for our customers,” said Christopher Fikry, M.D., executive vice president of PPD® Laboratories. “We can now offer an in-country lab facility for clinical studies in China that provides the same capabilities that are available for studies at our other locations around the world. Through scientific excellence and consistent, high-quality delivery of critical data, we will help expedite the drug development process for customers who are either based or doing business in China.”
PPD celebrated the grand opening of the new lab recently with a variety of festivities at the facility in Suzhou, including the traditional Lion Dance, comments from company representatives and government officials, and a ceremonial ribbon cutting, as well as tours of the new high-tech operation. Virtual versions of the grand opening event in English will be held 9 June at 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time).
In Suzhou, the bioanalytical lab includes services for small molecules, biologics, and cell and gene therapies. The lab encompasses multiple technology platforms across a wide range of applications, including ligand-binding immunochemistry, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and flow cytometry. The lab also specializes in the development and validation of fully compliant robust custom assays for pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analyses and immunogenicity assessments in both preclinical and clinical studies.
The biomarker lab offers a range of services applicable across multiple regulatory compliance environments and fit-for-purpose applications. Analysis will be performed with molecular testing, flow cytometry, ligand binding and LC-MS/MS to support both preclinical and clinical studies. PPD’s alliance with NeoGenomics Laboratories enhances its internal capabilities with an extensive test menu. NeoGenomics operates an oncology-focused clinical trials testing lab in the same building as the PPD Laboratories’ central lab in Singapore and has established a similar arrangement in PPD’s new Suzhou facility.
The vaccine sciences lab provides a full range of testing services specifically designed for vaccine development trials. The lab employs immunoassays, cell-based assays and multiplexed functional assays for vaccine efficacy and molecular assays for infectious disease monitoring. The lab’s services range from technology assessment and method development to immunogenicity and concomitant studies.
In the Asia-Pacific region, PPD also maintains central labs in Shanghai and Singapore that provide support for global clinical trials with safety and efficacy testing, custom specimen collection kits and sample management services. The labs offer high-quality data across a wide range of technologies and applications for all phases of pharmaceutical development. The central lab’s innovative enterprise and information management system, the Preclarus® central lab database, delivers data in real time to expedite project teams’ decision-making and help accelerate research. PPD plans to add central lab services in Suzhou in 2022 to augment the current capabilities in Shanghai and Singapore.
Reflecting PPD’s ongoing expansion in the China drug development marketplace, last year the company adopted the Mandarin name Bai Shi Yi (百时益) for its China-based business. The new name – capturing the concepts of bai (100), shi (timely) and yi (beneficial) – reflects PPD’s ambition to ensure 100% customer satisfaction, accelerate the pace of drug development and help customers deliver life-changing therapies to patients.
PPD has had a presence in China for more than 20 years, with operations in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Guangzhou and Shenyang. The company employs more than 1,100 professionals in over 70 cities across China.
In addition to the new multi-functional lab in Suzhou, PPD Laboratories’ global operations include bioanalytical labs in Middleton, Wisconsin, and Richmond, Virginia; GMP (good manufacturing practices) labs in Athlone, Ireland, and Middleton; central labs in Shanghai, Brussels, Belgium, Highland Heights, Kentucky, and Singapore; biomarker labs in Richmond, Highland Heights, Belgium and Singapore; and a vaccine sciences lab in Richmond.
