RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To stay ahead of the diverse and evolving needs of its global customer base, Quintiles today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Novella Clinical (Novella), a full-service clinical research organization (CRO) focused primarily on emerging oncology customers as well as those in the medical device and diagnostics sectors.

“The expertise and insight the Novella team brings will be a strong addition to our existing capabilities and help further differentiate Quintiles in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” said Paula Brown Stafford, President, Clinical Development at Quintiles. “Novella’s understanding of emerging companies, as well as our shared commitment to quality, customer service, and above all, the patients we ultimately serve, makes this acquisition a good fit for both organizations. We look forward to working collaboratively with Novella to leverage the synergies that exist between our companies to help drive business growth while continuing to meet the needs of our customers.”

Novella’s infrastructure and approach to clinical research were created with the operational needs of its unique customer base in mind, and constructed to best support these specific customer groups. By joining Quintiles, Novella will be able to continue this specialized focus while at the same time leveraging Quintiles’ scale and resources to provide new global capabilities to its existing and future customers.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to join Quintiles – the global leader in our industry,” said Richard Staub, President and CEO of Novella. “Since our founding fifteen years ago, Novella has been committed to serving emerging companies by offering personal attention and flexibility in addition to our extensive therapeutic experience. By joining Quintiles, we will be able to extend the geographic reach of our services exponentially while remaining committed to the values and business approach that makes us a great partner to our customers.”

Novella is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and has more than 800 professionals located throughout North America and Europe. Upon completion of this transaction, Novella will operate as a unit within Quintiles and be known as “Novella Clinical, a Quintiles company.” The transaction, which is subject to standard and customary closing conditions, is expected to close later this quarter.

Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on Quintiles’ 2013 earnings per share.

About Quintiles

Quintiles (NYSE: Q) is the world’s largest provider of biopharmaceutical development and commercial outsourcing services with a network of more than 27,000 employees conducting business in approximately 100 countries. We have helped develop or commercialize all of the top-50 best-selling drugs on the market. Quintiles applies the breadth and depth of our service offerings along with extensive therapeutic, scientific and analytics expertise to help our customers navigate an increasingly complex healthcare environment as they seek to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of better healthcare outcomes. To learn more about Quintiles, please visit www.quintiles.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, Quintiles’ current expectations and anticipated results of operations, all of which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Quintiles’ actual results, performance or achievements, market trends, or industry results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Therefore, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements and should be evaluated as such. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” “targets,” “will” and the negative thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including our ability to complete, integrate and achieve our intended objectives with respect to the proposed acquisition of Novella Clinical and those described under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Quintiles’ prospectus dated May 8, 2013, filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act on May 9, 2013, as such factors may be updated from time to time in Quintiles’ periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in Quintiles’ filings with the SEC. Unless legally required, Quintiles assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking information to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting such forward-looking information.

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