WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) today announced it has completed its acquisition of BioDuro LLC, a drug discovery outsourcing company focused on integrated drug discovery programs and services.

With this acquisition, PPD now employs more than 1,400 in Asia Pacific and nearly 1,000 people in China, making it the largest contract research organization to offer clinical development and discovery services in the country.

“Our acquisition of BioDuro positions us to capitalize on the tremendous growth in Asia Pacific and to become the CRO of choice in China,” said David Grange, chief executive officer of PPD. “BioDuro has a premier reputation for delivering quality service and has built an exceptional team of researchers and scientists. We are very pleased to welcome BioDuro’s 660 employees into PPD.”

Founded in 2005, BioDuro operates a state-of-the-art, 110,000-square-foot laboratory in Beijing. With the vast majority of its employees based in China, the company focuses on providing fully integrated programs to synthesize and optimize novel compounds to generate drug development candidates.

PPD paid approximately $77 million in cash to acquire BioDuro.

As previously announced, PPD recently acquired Excel PharmaStudies, one of the largest contract research organizations in China, expanding PPD’s Phase II-IV clinical, data management, biostatistics, regulatory and quality assurance services in this rapidly growing market. PPD has offices throughout Asia Pacific in addition to global central lab facilities in China and Singapore.

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 more than 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 acquisition of BioDuro and its contribution to PPD and PPD's future growth prospects, 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: risks associated with acquisitions and investments, such as integration challenges and impairments; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with and dependence on collaborative relationships; rapid technological advances that make our products and services less competitive; competition within the outsourcing industry; success in sales growth; loss of large contracts; increased cancellation rates; economic conditions and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government industry segments; 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.