HORSHAM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accelerated Enrollment Solutions (AES), a business of PPD, Inc. (Nasdaq:PPD), has launched a new program to help biopharmaceutical companies maintain business continuity during the global COVID-19 pandemic by transferring clinical trial patients to AES’ dedicated research sites from other research facilities impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
As academic and hospital-based sites turn their attention to the front-line care of COVID-19 patients, and as independent sites experience diminished operating capacity related to COVID-19 concerns, biopharmaceutical companies face the prospect of delaying or canceling clinical trials of a wide variety of potential new medicines and ending patient participation in those trials. AES’ patient-transfer program is designed to address this issue through its global site organization, which includes dedicated research sites committed exclusively to clinical research.
“The transfer of patients to AES physical and virtual sites supports ongoing patient participation and allows for the continued collection of data for important trials supporting potentially life-changing therapies that aren’t necessarily connected to COVID-19,” said Roger Smith, general manager of AES. “As staff members from other sites are being called to support COVID-19 endeavors, this is a way for us to help their trial patients and support clinical research continuity, in addition to our organization’s ongoing work with our customers’ COVID-19 research. There is precedent for these transfers during normal operating conditions, and we believe the current pandemic will dramatically accelerate the need for solutions to support patients who are currently receiving investigational products and wish to maintain their participation status.”
With more than 180 research locations in 17 countries, AES has a broad global footprint that can support the transfer of patients, which ultimately depends on the sites’ proximity to the patients and their ability to support the trial protocol.
AES sites are operating under governments’ essential-business provisions and following official public health recommendations, including from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, AES is following COVID-19-related guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency to accommodate the transfer of patients between study sites.
About AES
Accelerated Enrollment Solutions is a business of PPD that offers sponsors and contract research organizations distinctive site conduct and patient access solutions. These solutions are available as discrete services or integrated to provide a cohesive and highly differentiated trial acceleration strategy for insourced or outsourced clinical studies, all under results-based commercial terms. For more information, visit www.yourgreenlightmoment.com.
About PPD
PPD is a leading global contract research organization providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. Our customers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 46 countries and approximately 24,000 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a firm commitment to quality to help customers bend the cost and time curve of drug development and optimize value in delivering life-changing therapies to improve health. For more information, visit www.ppdi.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements often include words such as “expect,” “believe,” “project,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “target” and other similar expressions. Although we believe these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time they are made, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results, and therefore actual results might differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might materially affect such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the fragmented and highly competitive nature of the drug development services industry; changes in trends in the biopharmaceutical industry; our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes that could make our services less competitive or obsolete; political, economic and/or regulatory influences and changes; and other factors disclosed under the “Risk Factors” section in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available on our website at https://investors.ppdi.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. We assume no obligation and disclaim any duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or make any new forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
