Singapore: Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) has appointed Dr Andrew Cunningham as vice president of central laboratory services.

Dr Cunningham brings extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience to PPD's central laboratories, which are strategically aligned to support all phases of clinical development.

"Andrew's vision and expertise strengthen PPD's world-class laboratory services team," said Dr David Johnston, executive vice president of global laboratory services. "Central labs play a critical role in the drug development process and can drive operational efficiencies as clinical research becomes increasingly complex and geographically distributed. Andrew's leadership will help ensure we deliver quality data, speed, flexibility and efficiencies to complete projects on time and on budget for our clients."

PPD integrates comprehensive laboratory testing with phase I-IV services to provide clients optimal, end-to-end value-chain capabilities, from lead generation through product launch. This approach reduces costs and accelerates drug discovery and development timelines for PPD's clients. With locations in Belgium, China, Singapore and the United States, PPD's central labs offer industry-leading services to study sites across the globe.

Dr Cunningham has held multiple leadership positions in the biopharmaceutical services industry, including most recently at Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories for National Jewish Health. Previously, he was with Celerion, where he provided leadership for first-in-human bioanalytical, bioequivalence and pharmacokinetics studies in a good laboratory practice environment.