PPD is a global contract research organization that provides clinical trial and laboratory services to pharmaceutical, device, and diagnostic firms. The clinical development services segment offers outsourced trial services, spanning early- and late-stage trials, as well as peri- and post-approval trials, and the laboratory services segment includes both advanced lab testing and central lab services. The company was taken private in 2011 and went public again in 2020.. Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it will acquire PPD for $17.4 billion, which is scheduled to close by the end of 2021.