WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) today announced it has appointed Lee E. Babiss, Ph.D., as executive vice president of global laboratory services. He will provide strategic direction and additional scientific leadership to the company’s bioanalytical, cGMP and global central laboratories, vaccines and biologics operations and to BioDuro, the China-based drug discovery services company PPD acquired last year.

“Dr. Babiss brings more than 21 years of experience developing and leading research and development laboratories,” said William Sharbaugh, chief operating officer of PPD. “His strategic leadership will be valuable as we continue to deliver exceptional scientific expertise across our global labs and expand our state-of-the-art facilities to meet growing client demand. I am pleased to have a leader and scientist of Lee’s caliber join our team."

Dr. Babiss most recently served as president and director of pharmaceutical research for F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd., in Basel, Switzerland. His responsibilities included leading global laboratory functions in chemistry, discovery technologies, therapeutic proteins, RNA-based therapeutics, non-clinical safety, technical sciences and informatics. He supported drug discovery efforts in oncology, neurosciences, inflammation, virology and metabolism and was a member of the company’s pharma executive and strategic portfolio committees.

Prior to joining Hoffmann-La Roche, Dr. Babiss spent seven years with Glaxo Inc., now GlaxoSmithKline, where he was promoted to positions of increasing responsibility, including vice president of biological sciences and genetics. In this role, he had global accountability for developing and implementing the company’s corporate genetics strategy and oncology research efforts focused on the cell cycle.

Dr. Babiss earned a doctorate in microbiology from Columbia University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University where he served as an assistant and associate professor. He has received numerous fellowship awards and grants and serves on several scientific advisory committees and boards.

PPD is a leading global contract research organization, celebrating 25 years of providing discovery and development services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 40 countries and more than 10,500 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and commitment to quality to help clients and partners maximize returns on R&D investments that accelerate the delivery of safe, effective therapeutics. For more information, visit 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 above-named employee’s performance and contributions to PPD and its laboratory businesses, 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: the ability to attract, integrate and retain key personnel; competition within the outsourcing industry; rapid technological advances that make our products and services less competitive; success in sales growth; loss of large contracts; high cancellation rates; economic conditions and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government industry segments; 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; 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.