Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) is a global contract research organization (CRO) providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. In December 2021, PPD became a wholly owned subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific.
History
PPD was founded by Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., as a one-person consulting firm in 1985. The following year, he expanded the company's scope to include development services and relocated operations from Maryland to North Carolina. July 1985: Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., founds PPD as a one-person consulting firm based in his home in Maryland. 1986: Eshelman expands the company and relocates operations to Wilmington, North Carolina. January 1989: The company incorporates in North Carolina. January 1996: PPD issues its initial public stock offering and begins trading on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol PPDI. October 2005: PPD's board of directors adopts an annual cash dividend policy. July 2009: The company promotes Eshelman to executive chairman and names David Grange chief executive officer. January 2010: The company commemorates the 25th anniversary of its founding. June 2010: PPD spins off its compound partnering division as a new and independent publicly traded company, Furiex Pharmaceuticals. May 2011: David Grange retires as chief executive officer of PPD. September 2011: PPD's board of directors names Raymond Hill as PPD's new chief executive officer. December 2011: The company is acquired by affiliates of The Carlyle Group and affiliates of Hellman & Friedman in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. May 2012: PPD's board of directors names David Simmons as chairman and CEO. August 2013: PPD acquires Acurian. December 2014: PPD announces an agreement with SNBL to form a joint venture to provide full range of clinical development services in Japan. May 2015: PPD expands network of U.S.-based research sites via strategic relationship with Radiant. June 2016: PPD expands network of global research sites via strategic relationship with Synexus. September 2016: PPD acquires Evidera. April 2017: Hellman & Friedman and affiliates of The Carlyle Group enter into definitive agreements to recapitalize PPD and expand the company's ownership to include two new investors, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and an affiliate of GIC Private Limited, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. July 2018: PPD launches new site solution. July 2018: Synexus announces U.S.-based registry to power major longitudinal study on brain aging. February 2019: PPD inks deal with China's HLT to create data science-driven research solutions. May 2019: PPD's Evidera acquires RWE provider Medimix. September 2019: PPD's Accelerated Enrollment Solutions acquires global site business from Bioclinica. February 2020: PPD issues its initial public stock offering and begins trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PPD. April 2021: Thermo Fisher Scientific announces plans to acquire PPD. December 2021: Thermo Fisher Scientific completes the acquisition of PPD.
Location
PPD has its headquarters in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company has more than 27,000 employees. As of December 2021, PPD became a wholly owned subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific based in Waltham, Massachusetts.