RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, December 11 /PRNewswire/ --

Quintiles Transnational Corp. today announced the appointment of John Goodacre as Executive Vice President and General Counsel.

Previously Senior Vice President, Global Risk Management and Quality Assurance, Goodacre joined Quintiles in 1998 as Vice President, European Legal Affairs.

"John has a thorough understanding of Quintiles and the clinical research industry, having served the company in various capacities over the past 20 years - including as outside counsel when we formed Quintiles (UK) Limited, our first international subsidiary, in 1987," said Dennis Gillings, CBE, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quintiles Transnational. "With his strong legal background and experience in leading our risk management and QA group, John will help Quintiles continue to grow and protect our interests."

In his new role, Goodacre is responsible for Quintiles' global legal function and risk management; he also joins the Quintiles Transnational Executive Committee. He reports to Mike Mortimer, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer.

Prior to joining Quintiles, Goodacre spent more than 20 years practicing law as a partner in law firms in central London. He holds two degrees from Cambridge University.

About Quintiles

Quintiles Transnational Corp. is powering the next generation of healthcare by providing a broad range of professional services in drug development, financial partnering and commercialization for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. With about 20,000 employees and offices in more than 50 countries, it is focused on providing customer-centric solutions that are the gold standard of the industry. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.qtrn.com.

Web site: http://www.qtrn.com

Jay Johnson, Media Relations, +1-919-998-2091, media.info@quintiles.com, or Greg Connors, Investor Relations, +1-919-998-2000, invest@quintiles.com, both of Quintiles Transnational Corp.; Note to Editors: An image of Goodacre is available by contacting Julie Cooley, julie.cooley@quintiles.com.