Center is built on vaccine-testing services that PPD acquired from Merck & Co. last year.

PPD is launching the PPD Vaccines & Biologics Center of Excellence, which will offer a range of laboratory services to support development of products such as vaccines, mAbs, peptides, protein-drug conjugates, and other biologics. The aim is to integrate vaccine testing, bioanalytical offerings, cGMP, and global central lab services so that companies can streamline and customize laboratory services for their biologics portfolios.

The new center builds on PPD’s purchase of Merck & Co.’s 130,000 square foot vaccine-testing laboratory in Wayne, PA, in January 2009 and the firms’ collaboration on vaccine testing. Since then PPD has developed new technologies and assays to expand its vaccine testing services into the area of oncology vaccines. It also has the capability to provide a variety of concurrent-use testing for investigational pediatric and adolescent vaccine programs. Such testing of new vaccines is a regulatory requirement intended to ensure that vaccines under development do not interfere with the efficacy of marketed vaccines co-administered to the same patient population. 

“With the industry’s largest collection of commercial vaccine assays and strong immunochemistry, cell culture, and cGMP lab operations, PPD is the first CRO to offer the type of laboratory support that has the potential to bring significant efficiencies to the development of vaccines and biologics,” remarks Christine Dingivan, M.D., CMO. “The Vaccines & Biologics Center of Excellence provides the high quality scientific support our clients are seeking in a way that allows them to bypass costly capital and resource investments necessary to develop and maintain these capabilities internally.”

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