PPD, Inc., Wilmington,. N.C. opened a contract research facility in Athlone, Ireland, including an 18,000-square-foot analytical testing laboratory and clinical supplies business. The facility expands the company’s global scientific expertise, laboratory capacity and supplies network to meet growing client demand in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

PPD will offer fully integrated product and analytical development services, including method development; validation; stability, release and quality control testing; and global clinical supplies services, including secondary packing, labeling and storage. The facility will also provide regulatory services, product licensing, and marketed product support, including qualified person (QP) services for all drug dosage forms, with particular emphasis on inhalation and biopharmaceutical products.

The cGMP analytical testing laboratory conducts testing for clinical programs and marketed products spanning all phases of drug development. It joins the company’s scientific and therapeutic experience with state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation to deliver comprehensive, best-in-class laboratory services.

“Expanding our laboratory operations into Europe enables us to continue to deliver on our strong history of providing quality work and customer service to our growing client base in this region,” said Magdalena Mejillano, vice president of laboratory services.

PPD recently opened offices in Manila, Philippines, and Bangalore, India, expanding its Phase II-IV clinical development services. PPD will provide clinical management services in key therapeutic areas from these locations.

The offices strengthen PPD’s full range of drug discovery and development services and continue to position the company to capitalize on the tremendous growth of the outsourcing market in Asia Pacific. PPD recently expanded in this region through its acquisitions of Excel one of the largest contract research organizations in China, and BioDuro, a drug discovery outsourcing company.