Deal follows just two weeks after PPD completes acquisition of Excel PharmaStudies.
PPD is continuing its push into China with the acquisition of Beijing-based BioDuro. The announcement comes just a couple of weeks after PPD confirmed completing its acquisition of Excel PharmaStudies, one of the largest CROs in China.
Founded in 2005, BioDuro offers fully integrated services for the synthesis and optimization of novel compounds, with specialist expertise in medicinal chemistry, biology, pharmacology, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and safety services. The company operates a 110,000-sq-ft laboratory in Beijing, and has some 600 employees. The Excel acquisition, meanwhile, has increased PPD’s capabilities in the areas of Phase II–IV clinical management, data management and biostatistics, and regulatory and quality-assurance services.
Once the BioDuro acquisition is complete, PPD will employ almost 1,000 people in China, which it claims will make it the largest CRO in the country to offer both clinical-development and discovery services.
David Grange, PPD’s CEO, says the acquisition of BioDuro will “position us well to provide services for the growing global discovery outsourcing industry and to be a full-service CRO of choice in China.”
In its third quarter strategic review at the end of October, PPD stressed the attraction of China as a marketing opportunity. In terms of recruiting for clinical trials, the country has vast patient populations as well as large, centralized hospitals and an improving regulatory and IP environment. Moreover, the country’s pharmaceutical market is growing at an estimated CAGR of 19.5% between 2008 and 2013. PPD estimates the number of open trials with sites in China rose from about 200 in Q3 2007 to over 400 in Q3 2009.