PPD Names Mike Wilkinson as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Paul Colvin as Executive Vice President of Global Clinical Development

PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPDI) today announced it has appointed Mike Wilkinson, Ph.D., as executive vice president and chief information officer and Paul Colvin as executive vice president of global clinical development effective June 30.

As executive vice president and chief information officer, Dr. Wilkinson will provide strategic direction for PPD’s development and deployment of innovative ideas and technology and will oversee the integration of technology initiatives with process improvement, business analytics and global training programs.

"Our efforts are focused on offering our clients a diverse and refined portfolio of services to better address the needs and requirements they face both today and in the future,” said David L. Grange, chief executive officer of PPD. "The strategic operational knowledge that Mike Wilkinson brings to the CIO role will add an invaluable dimension in setting the direction for innovative technology and information processing that better supports our core clinical development businesses and ultimately the solutions our customers expect from us.”

For the last two years, Dr. Wilkinson served as executive vice president of global clinical development with responsibility for PPD’s Phase II-IV operations across North America; Latin America; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific. Prior to joining PPD, he was global head of internal medicine and vice president of project management for another contract research organization.

Mr. Colvin will assume the role previously held by Dr. Wilkinson, providing strategic leadership for global clinical development, including Phase II-IV operations across North America; Latin America; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific.

"Paul Colvin’s extensive experience prior to joining PPD and his significant contributions in leading our North America group make him ideally suited to directing and growing our clinical development operations across six continents,” Grange said. "He will provide strong leadership as we continue to adapt and realign to meet the changing drug development needs of our customers.”

Mr. Colvin previously served nearly three years as PPD’s senior vice president of clinical development for North America. He joined PPD after 14 years with Eli Lilly and Company in a series of leadership roles that included overseeing clinical operations and global patient enrollment and providing direction for the cardiovascular brand team and oncology, critical care, primary care and neuroscience groups.

PPD is a leading global contract research organization, celebrating 25 years of providing drug discovery, development and lifecycle management services. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 41 countries and more than 10,500 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help clients and partners accelerate the delivery of safe and effective therapeutics and maximize the returns on their R&D investments. 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 individuals and their future contributions and success, 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 and retain key personnel; competition within the outsourcing industry; rapid technological advances that make our services less competitive; success in sales growth; loss of large contracts; increased 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 acquisitions and investments, such as integration and 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.