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WILMINGTON, N.C. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (April 17, 2002) -
PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) and SurroMed, Inc. today announced PPD
made an equity investment in preferred stock of SurroMed, a privately
held biotechnology company that focuses on phenotyping and biological
marker discovery technologies.
Based in Mountain View, Calif., SurroMed has developed proprietary,
integrated bioanalysis technologies that detect biological markers
and compounds to enable precise diagnosis and personalized treatment
of disease. SurroMed's biomarker technology is useful in stratifying
patients by disease type and response to therapy, as well as identifying
and validating therapeutic and diagnostic targets. "With
interest in the biomarker arena accelerating among our clients,"
said Fred Eshelman, chief executive officer of PPD, "SurroMed
aligns well with our strategy of investing in companies that are
developing leading edge technologies that offer potential applications
to save time and costs in therapeutic development and use."
"We are delighted to initiate this relationship with PPD,"
said Gordon Ringold, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer
of SurroMed. "Their investment provides further validation
of SurroMed's integrated technology approach to biomarker discovery."
About SurroMed, Inc.
SurroMed uses its integrated phenotyping
and biological marker discovery platform to better understand
the root causes of disease and the factors underlying patient-to-patient
variations in disease presentation, progression and response to
therapy. Discoveries arising from its research will enable improved,
cost-efficient discovery and development of therapeutic and diagnostic
products. SurroMed's phenotyping and biological marker discovery
platform incorporates advanced proprietary technologies for profiling
and analysis of hundreds of immune cell populations, proteins
and low-molecular-weight organic molecules (such as sugars, peptides
or lipids) in small volumes of blood and/or other biological samples,
while maintaining complete patient confidentiality. By capturing
and analyzing enormous amounts of clinical and biological information
in a massively parallel fashion to identify useful biological
markers, SurroMed plans to enable the precise diagnosis and effective
treatment of disease.
About PPD, Inc.
As a leading global provider
of discovery and development services and products for pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies, PPD applies innovative technologies,
therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help clients
maximize the return on their R&D investments. With proven
early discovery through post-market resources, the company also
offers unique partnerships and alliances for virtual drug development.
PPD has more than 4,500 professionals in 21 countries around the
world. For more information on PPD, visit our Web site at <http://www.ppdi.com.>
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations
and assumptions, including expectations and assumptions about
the value of the investment in and relationship with SurroMed,
contained in this news release are forward-looking statements
that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although PPD
attempts to be accurate in making those 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: economic conditions in the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology industries; outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology industries; dependence on collaborative relationships;
rapid technological advances that make our products and services
less competitive; risks associated with acquisitions and investments;
loss of large contracts; competition within the outsourcing industry;
continued success in sales growth; the ability to attract and
retain key personnel; and the other risk factors set forth from
time to time in the SEC filings for PPD, copies of which are available
upon request from the PPD investor relations department.
Contacts:
SurroMed, Inc.
August J. Moretti
CFO and General Counsel
(650) 230-1564
email: [email protected]
PPD, Inc.
Media
Nancy Zeleniak
(919) 462 4088
email: [email protected]>
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