PPD, Inc., a developer of services and products for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, is acquiring Piedmont Research Center II, Inc., a Morrisville-based pre-clinical researcher of anti-cancer therapies.
As part of the deal Piedmont Research shareholders will receive cash and shares of PPD common stock. Wilmington-based PPD did not immediately return phone calls. Terms of the transaction and the fate of Piedmont Research’s 30 employees were not disclosed.
In a prepared statement, PPD Chief Executive Officer Fred Eschelman says the acquisition of Piedmont Research adds another link in the vertical ladder PPD is building in its oncology research and development programs.
In March, analysts expressed concern about the future of PPD’s stock price when Bristol Myers Squibb released negative results for preliminary tests of Vanlev, a drug being developed by PPD. However, David Windley, an analyst with Jefferies & Co., released a report saying that sources tell him PPD’s performance in the development trials was “superior” and that this has “earned it a priority position for a broad base of Bristol Myers Squibb’s business.”
For 2001, PPD reported that revenues increased 25 percent o $431.5 million, boosting net income with it by 52 percent to $49.2 million. Shares of PPD stock ranged in price from $18.47 to $38.36 during the last 52 weeks, and recently traded near $33.90.
