Pharmaceutical group Elan has agreed a deal with global contract research organisation PPD.

As part of the agreement, PPD will become Elan’s primary service provider for all development functions and activities.

The deal is intended to drive the execution of Elan’s clinical programs globally, with PPD providing its expertise in areas such as project and data management, biostatistics, regulatory, clinical and medical monitoring and quality assurance.

Elan said it will retain ownership of its assets.

“Establishing this strategic collaboration with PPD will enable Elan to accelerate the progression of our science into the clinical development setting in a rapid and global fashion,” said Elan’s executive vice president and head of development Eliseo Salinas.

“The ability to fluidly access additional expertise and execution capability on a global scale will complement our internal talent and may enable us to move multiple programs forward in a parallel manner.”

Earlier this month, Elan said it had signed a development and manufacturing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for antibody-based therapeutics. The deal will see Boehringer Ingelheim perform the technical development, clinical manufacturing and related regulatory filing support services for antibodies discovered by Elan.