PPD names chief scientific officer for China subsidiary BioDuro

Clinical research organization PPD (NYSE:PPDI) has appointed a chief scientific officer for BioDuro, its drug discovery subsidiary in China.

Jasmine Cui brings to PPD more than 15 years of drug discovery experience, including 14 years at Merck (NYSE:MRK). Wilmington, North Carolina-based PPD has made China a big part of its business through acquisitions. In 2009, the company acquired BioDuro and Excel PharmaStudies, a CRO. Of the 1,400 that PPD now employs in the Asia Pacific region, more than 1,000 work in China.

“Jasmine’s leadership will be valuable to our clients as we continue to build therapeutic expertise and to deliver integrated services beginning at lead generation through phase 0,” BioDuro executive Andreas Tschirky said in a prepared statement.

Cui held several positions at Merck Research Laboratories, including director of cardiovascular disease. In that role she oversaw several preclinical drug candidates, including some that are currently in clinical trials.

Cui was educated in China and the United States. She received her doctorate in biology from Purdue University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Michigan. She completed her undergraduate studies at Shandong University in China.