1003124--2/26/2010--PHARMACEUTICAL_PRODUCT_DEVELOPMENT

related topics

{product, candidate, development}

{product, market, service}

{system, service, information}

{personnel, key, retain}

{property, intellectual, protect}

{operation, natural, condition}

{acquisition, growth, future}

{cost, regulation, environmental}

{cost, contract, operation}

{product, liability, claim}

{stock, price, share}

{condition, economic, financial}

{interest, director, officer}

{operation, international, foreign}

{stock, price, operating}

{debt, indebtedness, cash}

{loan, real, estate}

{regulation, government, change}

Changes in trends in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including difficult market conditions, could adversely affect our operating results. Our revenue depends on a small number of industries and clients. Neither request for proposal, or RFP, activity nor backlog necessarily result in revenue, and to the extent the mix of contracts in our backlog continues to shift toward larger contracts with a more global component, this might cause the rate at which this backlog converts into revenue to lengthen when compared to historical trends. The majority of our clients contracts can be delayed, terminated or reduced in scope upon short notice. We might not be able to recruit and retain the experienced personnel we need to compete in the drug development industry. Scientists and Other Technical Professionals Our future success depends on our ability to keep pace with rapid technological changes that could make our services less competitive or obsolete. Hardware or software failures, delays in the operations of our computer and communications systems or the failure to implement system enhancements could harm our business. Any failure by us to comply with existing regulations could harm our reputation and operating results. Changes in the U.S. and international healthcare industry, including reimbursement rates, could adversely affect the commercial value of our development product candidates, increase the cost of our business resulting in loss of business opportunities or limit our service or product offerings. The drug development services industry is highly competitive. Our business has experienced substantial expansion in the past, and contraction in 2009, and we might not properly manage any expansion or contraction in the future. Future acquisitions or investments could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees, increase our expenses and adversely affect our business. The investment of our cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments balance are subject to risks which may cause losses and affect the liquidity of these investments. The fixed price nature of our development contracts could hurt our operating results If we are unable to attract suitable willing investigators and enroll a sufficient number of participants for our clinical trials, our development business might suffer. Our business exposes us to potential liability for personal injury or product liability claims that could affect our financial condition. Our business uses biological and hazardous materials, which could injure people or violate laws, resulting in liability that could hurt our financial condition and business Our business is subject to international economic, currency, political and other risks that could negatively affect our revenue and results of operations. Our inability to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could hurt our business. The drug development industry has a history of patent and other intellectual property litigation, and we might be involved in costly intellectual property lawsuits. Our operations might be affected by the occurrence of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event. Our development operations might be affected if there was a disruption to the air travel system. We have relatively limited experience in the drug development business, and our prospects for success in this business remain uncertain and are dependent on third parties with whom we collaborate. If our product identification efforts are not successful, we might not be able to effectively develop new products. Many of our drug candidates are in early stages of development and we might not be able to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates. We must protect our patent and other intellectual property rights to succeed. We might need to obtain patent licenses from others in order to manufacture or sell our potential products and we might not be able to obtain these licenses on terms acceptable to us or at all. If our collaborations are not successful or are terminated by our collaborators, we might not effectively develop and market some of our product candidates. We or our collaborators might not be able to enroll a sufficient number of sites or enroll a sufficient number of patients in a timely manner in order to complete our clinical trials. Even if one of our in-licensed drug candidates successfully completes Phase II clinical trial testing, we will need to have a collaborator for final development and commercialization of that drug candidate or undertake those activities on our own. There can be no assurance that the spin-off will be completed or will not be delayed. The spin-off process has diverted the attention of our management and employees, increased our professional services expenses, may disrupt our operations and could cause other difficulties. You might not receive any dividends, and the reduction or elimination of dividends might negatively affect the market price of our common stock. Our dividend policy and stock repurchase plan might limit our ability to pursue other growth opportunities. Because our stock price is volatile, our stock price could experience substantial declines.

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1003124--2/26/2010--PHARMACEUTICAL_PRODUCT_DEVELOPMENT_INC