Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC has been awarded a seven-year contract with the National Institutes of Health to provide clinical and research support services for HIV and AIDS research.

The contract is under the Clinical Research Support Services program of the Division of AIDS, a research division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to a news release from PPD, a Wilmington-headquartered global contract research organization.

PPD will provide a broad range of clinical and other related research support services for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)/Division of AIDS (DAIDS)-supported clinical research portfolio and other infectious diseases relevant to HIV-infected and at-risk populations.

“We are pleased to help NIAID develop and maintain a strong clinical infrastructure to meet the needs of DAIDS’ scientific agenda,” William Sharbaugh, chief operating officer of PPD, said in the release.

The Clinical Research Support Services critical infrastructure contract provides support for assessing and auditing investigative sites and laboratories, capacity building, biostatistics, site training and data management, officials said.

This agreement complements more than two decades of collaboration between PPD and NIAID, the release said. In March, PPD announced that it had secured its fifth renewal with NIAID, which was extended through 2024, covering support for a broad scope of research related to HIV or HIV co-infections. The original NIAID/DAIDS contract was awarded in 1990.

The next month, PPD had also announced that it had made a deal to recapitalize and add two new investors, a move that valued the company at more than $9 billion.