PPD’s plan to refocus its contract research organization (CRO) business is one step closer to final with the recent sale of its biomarker services division, PPD Biomarker Discovery Sciences, to Montreal-based Caprion Proteomics.

Caprion purchased the shares and assets of the Menlo Park, Calif., business Dec. 31, 2009, for an undisclosed sum. With the sale of this portion of its business, PPD next plans to spin off its compound partnering business, creating two independent public companies. Only the CRO business will maintain the PPD name.

Caprion provides proteomics biomarker services and said the PPD acquisition will help the company further its market leadership position. The company will fulfill PPD’s existing contractual obligations from both Menlo Park and Montreal. 

“We are very pleased to add the solid scientific capabilities, experience and customer relationships of PPD’s biomarker unit to Caprion’s rapidly growing biomarker services business,” said Martin LeBlanc, president and CEO of Caprion, in a statement. “By acquiring this business, we will expand our capacity and be able to better meet the growing biomarker needs of our current and future clients.”

Caprion expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive.