ERT Announces the Appointment of Eric Schwartz as Chief Legal Officer

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Feb 22, 2011, 08:00 ET

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- eResearchTechnology, Inc. (ERT or the Company), (Nasdaq: ERES), a global technology-driven provider of clinical services and customizable medical devices to biopharmaceutical and healthcare organizations, announced today the appointment of Eric Ian Schwartz as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer effective February 22, 2011.

Mr. Schwartz joins ERT with over 15 years of legal and executive management experience with high growth companies in the healthcare and technology industries. Most recently, Mr. Schwartz was Assistant General Counsel at Johnson & Johnson, where he served on the senior management teams of several of the fastest growing companies within Johnson & Johnson's medical device and consumer products businesses. Previously, he was Vice President and General Counsel of Animas Corporation, a public medical devices company, manufacturing and distributing insulin delivery systems for people with diabetes. Animas was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2006. Mr. Schwartz also held several positions of increasing responsibility with Cable & Wireless Internet Services, Inc., and its predecessor, Digital Island, Inc. During his career, he has been responsible for a variety of legal, business development, and general management functions. Mr. Schwartz holds a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia, as well as an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Joel Morganroth, M.D., Chairman and Interim CEO, commented: "We are all pleased that Eric will be joining the executive management team at ERT. In his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, he will be responsible for legal affairs, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance, contracts and proposals, and human resources for the Company. The increased complexity of ERT as a multi-service global company with plans to extend its products and services into adjacent markets makes the addition of a Chief Legal Officer particularly important in achieving the Company's business plans."

About eResearchTechnology, Inc.

ERT (www.ert.com) is a global technology-driven provider of clinical services and customizable medical devices to biopharmaceutical and healthcare organizations. It is the market leader for centralized cardiac safety and respiratory efficacy services in drug development and also collects, analyzes and distributes electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePRO) in multiple modalities across all phases of clinical research.

This release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that reflect our current views as to future events and financial performance with respect to our operations. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as "aim," "anticipate," "are confident," "estimate," "expect," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "look to" and other words and terms of similar meaning in conjunction with a discussion of future operating or financial performance.

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include: unfavorable economic conditions; our ability to obtain new contracts and accurately estimate net revenues, our positive outlook for future bookings, variability in size, scope and duration of projects and internal issues at the sponsoring client; our ability to successfully integrate the RS or any future acquisitions; competitive factors in the market for our centralized services; changes in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries to which we sell our solutions; technological development; and market demand. There is no guarantee that the amounts in our backlog will ever convert to revenue. Should the economic conditions deteriorate, the cancellation rates that we have historically experienced could increase. Further information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results can be found in ERT's Reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Guidance is based on management's good faith expectations given current market conditions but that continued or further deterioration of general economic conditions, in addition to other factors cited elsewhere, could result in ERT not achieving the revenue and net income per diluted share guidance provided.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, including prior forward-looking statements, to reflect the events or circumstances arising after the date as of which they were made. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements included in this release or that may be made in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of, us.