PPD Phase 1 Clinic (formerly known as PharmaCo)  Austin

Nearby Clinics: Cedra Austin, Covance Austin

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Special note: Due to old maps, map and directions display 7601 Metro Center Dr.  The real address to the clinic is 7551 Metro Center Dr.  Down the road, the building with the huge PPD letters on it! Click here for detailed map of area!

Ratings:

Phone Screening Process:

Clinic Screening Process:

Check In Process:

Accommodations:

Food Service:

Staff Professionalism:

Check Out Process:

Timeliness Of Stipend Payments:

Overall Impression Of Clinic:

Type of Clinic:

 Healthy Studies (Primarily)  Primarily Healthy volunteer studies + Dental Clinic

In-Patient Capacity:

300 +

Website:

 Website   Information    Scroll down for current studies!!!

Company Info:

Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc

Stock Symbol: PPDI (Nasdaq)

Contrary to rumor, the Austin clinic is PPD's only Phase 1clinic. 

Photos:

Address:

PPD

7551 Metro Center Dr
Suite 200
Austin, TX 78744

(Click here for map) (Area Map with info!)

(Aerial Image from Google Earth!)

Dental clinic is located to the left of the main entrance. 

Phone:

(800) 773-2782

Recruiting Hours (CST)
Sunday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Monday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Screening:
Most screenings will be for following week.  So be prepared to screen within 4 to 7 days of calling.  PPD has two screenings.  The 1st one is for the reading of the informed consent and lab work and the 2nd is for the physical.  The 2nd screening can be a few days after the first or up to the day before check in.  This needs to be taken into consideration when planning to come in from out of state.  PPD will do last minute screenings, like screen on Monday, physical on Tuesday and check-in on Wednesday.  It just depends on how the previous screenings went. 
Volunteer Amenities:
Big Screen TV In-Room TV Private Bedside TV Cable
Satellite DVD Player Video Games Board Games
Pool Table Ping Pong Foos Ball Darts
Movie Library Quiet Room Computer Room Rec Room
TV Room Activities like crafts, bingo or tournaments

Multiple recreation, TV, quiet and computer rooms.  1 pool table per section.  Some board games available.  Usually plenty of books and magazines.  Clinic is next to airport so you can watch planes land and take off.  Mostly land. 

There is an activities director who facilitates several structured activities each week like pool tournaments, bingo and arts & crafts.  Local newspapers and several magazines are delivered.  Once you are in the study, you will get a clear, plastic 1 litter water bottle.  Once you finish the study, you usually have your choice of a T-shirt or a small backpack as a souvenir but is really just an advertising tool. 

Internet Access:
Wifi LAN Public Computers w/Internet Public Computers w/ no Internet

Each area has 4 to 6 public access computers.  Recently upgraded to newer computers.  Wifi can be slow on the weekends or when large groups are in house.  Network is firewalled so you can't use most downloading sites, online games and other bandwidth hogging activities. 

Housing:

Private Rooms

Semi-Private (4 or less)

Dorms (5 or more)

Hospital Beds

Bunk Beds

There are 4 themed sections of the clinic and each section is inaccessible to the others.  The "Beach" and the "Meadow" are hospital-style dorms with hospital style beds.  There are around 64 beds.  The "City" and "Mountain" are the general sections and have 15 rooms with 4 bunks.  Both the "City" and "Mountain" sections can accommodate up to 120 subjects.  The "Meadow" is connected to the "Mountain" and is used for the Dental Clinic but will house regular studies as needed.  About 95% of beds have an electrical outlet for each person.  Each dorm room has two large cabinets to be used by all subjects in the room.  The Beach and Meadow areas have night stands for most beds. 

Parking:

Limited On-site (Park at your own risk) 

If you are screening, you can park in front of the building in designated areas painted on the ground. 

If you are checking in for a study, you cannot park your car in the lot in front of or behind PPD.

Study participants must park in the upper parking lot, past the main building and up the hill. 

Shuttle service is provided.   

Food:

Prepared in house.  7 day menu for standard diet.  Good quality meals.  Many people like the zucchini bread and they'll give you the recipe if you ask. 

Payment:

For short stays of 10 days or less, you will typically receive your money in a lump sum in the mail once the study is completed.  For longer single stay studies, you will typically get most of the money on your last check out and the rest in the mail about two weeks later.  For longer studies that are broken up into multiple stays, you will typically but not always, get a few checks, usually starting with your second and on stays and the rest in the mail once you complete the study. 

This is not guaranteed!  This is just the way it's been so far but the polices can always change.  According to PPD written policy in the informed consent, they reserve the right to issue payment within 3 weeks of completion of study, so it is a courtesy that they offer multiple checks when time constraints allow.   

Additional Information:

The clinic conducts a large volume of studies ranging from short multi stay to long 30 day single stay studies.  Lots of out of town people come to Austin for the large studies while college students fill in the weekend studies. 

PPD provides color coded T-shirts and pants scrubs.  You may wish to bring your own pants and sweat shirts.  Laundry is done on longer studies.  It is cold up there!  Bring sweatshirts and a blanket if your not used to living in the artic. 

 

Do not bring a camera-phone or laptop with built in camera.  PPD has a very strict policy and they will take it away at check-in.  If you sneak it in and get caught, you will get fined a minimum of $100 bucks.  Plus there are a lot of people who will turn you in, primarily people who got their phone taken away.  So do yourself a favor, if you plan on doing lots of studies, get a secondary non-camera phone. 

 

PPD has freshened their study page!

PPD has a video about their clinic geared towards both potential volunteers and prospective pharmaceutical clients.

 

Current Studies (from PPD's website) 

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Travel Information:  Wikipedia for Austin / (Area Map with info!)
General Info Current Studies Message Board Travel Information Return To Main Page
Hotel info is below, for everything else, See Austin Travel info page

Hotels:

There are several business chain hotels in the area.  Most are in the $90's or more.  The first 3 are within walking distance to PPD. 
Complete listing based on distance
Comfort Suites 0.3 Miles $90-$110
7501 E Ben White Blvd (512) 386-6000 Driving Directions
La Quinta Inn 0.3 Miles $90-$110
7625 E Ben White Blvd (512) 386-6800 Driving Directions
Holiday Inn Express 0.4 Miles $100-$140
7601 E Ben White Blvd (512) 386-7600 Driving Directions
Super 8 Motel 1.1 Miles $60-$90
3120 Montopolis Dr (512) 386-5169 Driving Directions

If you got wheels, try the I-35 area between Ben White and Oltorf or north I-35 around or after Airport Blvd.

 

Route 350  to ACC Riverside and then Route 331 to Oltorf and I-35.  To get north, take Route 350 to Airport Blvd and I-35.  Catch bus at corner of Riverside Dr and Metro Center Dr. 

Motel 6 (Closest One) 3.1 Miles $45-$60
2707 S I H 35 (512) 444-5882 Directions
 

 

Updated on 9/22/08

 

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