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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         WWW.QUINTILES.COM

CONTACT: Pat Grebe, Media Relations (pat.grebe@quintiles.com)
         Greg Connors, Investor Relations (invest@quintiles.com)
         (919) 998 2000

         QUINTILES ANNOUNCES OPERATIONAL PLAN, TARGETS FOR 2002 EARNINGS

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - September 11, 2001 - Quintiles Transnational
Corp. (Nasdaq: QTRN) today announced its new operational plan, which is the
result of a five-month review led by Chief Executive Officer Pam Kirby, Ph.D.
Highlights of the plan include:

o    Greater emphasis on gain-sharing commercialization contracts and
     diversification to include more commercialization contracts with small and
     midsize healthcare companies;

o    Increased use of technology to improve efficiencies in clinical
     development, especially in data management and clinical monitoring;

o    Reorganization of Quintiles Informatics to enhance efficiencies and
     customer focus, and movement of certain eCommerce functions into Quintiles'
     Product Development and Commercialization operations to bring e-solutions
     to customers faster;

o    Rationalization of internal services to achieve greater infrastructure
     efficiencies and quality in support of Quintiles' global operations.

"In order to accelerate our transition to a technology-driven,
partnership-oriented business model, Quintiles expects to take a charge of
approximately $50 million in third quarter 2001," Kirby said. "This
restructuring is targeted to result in annualized cost savings of $50 million to
$55 million annually beginning in 2002.

 "I believe these steps will help us grow our business, improve margins,
streamline our operations and create stronger customer relationships based on
our contributions to their success. We remain highly confident of our growth
opportunities and in the benefits of this plan, which we already are
implementing. Key to the changes we're making is our global electronic
`real-time HR management' system, which allows us to analyze our human resource
needs and financial performance - operationally and geographically - very
quickly and in much greater depth.

"Our Clinical Development Services group should realize greater efficiencies,
especially in data management and clinical monitoring, through electronic data
capture and other data management tools. This is allowing us to consolidate our
data management and clinical monitoring operations, which will reduce our costs
and increase efficiency.

"In Commercialization, we are working to meet market demand for gain-share
agreements that offer us greater upside potential based on performance, and in
capturing more business from small and midsize companies in order to diversify
our contract portfolio and mitigate volatility.

"As a result of this plan, we are raising our target for 2002 EPS to 64 to 72
cents, compared to current analysts' consensus expectations of 63 cents per
share."


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The expected restructuring charge consists primarily of severance and lease
termination costs related to the consolidation of offices. Quintiles' work
force, which is now approximately 18,000, will be reduced by approximately 1,000
positions globally. Affected employees will receive benefit packages and
severance packages based on length of employment, as well as outplacement
services.

"Making a restructuring decision is difficult, but we believe it is necessary to
achieve greater efficiencies, improve our growth prospects and meet our
financial goals," Kirby said.

Quintiles Transnational will conduct a live Webcast of its Investor Briefing
regarding this announcement at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) today, Sept. 11. The event, which
will take place in New York City, will feature presentations by Kirby and Chief
Financial Officer Jim Bierman. A question and answer session will follow the
presentations.

Interested parties can access the Webcast, including the audio and presentation
materials, at www.quintiles.com/corporate_info/broadcast_center. The Webcast
will be archived on Quintiles' Web site for future on-demand replay. The replay
will be available via the same link about two hours after completion of the call
through 5:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 28, 2001.

System requirements for the Webcast include Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or
Netscape Navigator 4.0 (or higher). Users also should have the most recent
version of Windows Media Player or RealPlayer. Users may experience varying
levels of performance based on their connection speed, system capabilities, and
presence of a corporate firewall. To ensure a connection, users should go to
www.quintiles.com/corporate_info/broadcast_center and click on the link for the
Investor Briefing. There, users can download the free versions of Windows Media
Player or RealPlayer as well as test their connections. We recommend all viewers
of the live Webcast test their connections five to 15 minutes before the start
of the program.

In addition to the Webcast, the audio portion of the event will also be
available via conference call. The live call can be accessed by dialing
212-676-5206. The presentation slides will be available at the start of the
event at Quintiles' Web site,
www.quintiles.com/corporate_info/investors/investor_presentations.

Quintiles Transnational is the world's leading provider of information,
technology and services to help bring new medicines to patients faster and
improve healthcare. Headquartered near Research Triangle Park, North Carolina,
Quintiles Transnational is a member of the S&P 500 and Fortune 1000. For more
information visit the company's Web site at www.quintiles.com.

Information in this press release contains "forward-looking statements" about
Quintiles. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially, including without limitation, the risk that
the actual savings and operating improvements resulting from the restructuring
will be less than or slower than expected and that we may not meet our earnings
targets for the remainder of the year or 2002, the risk the market for our
products and services will not grow as we expect, the risk that our PharmaBio
transactions will not generate revenues or profit at the rate or levels we
anticipate, the risks that our Informatics products may not be rolled out as
targeted and that our data sources may not adequately support those products,
our ability to efficiently distribute backlog among therapeutic business units
and

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match demand to resources, actual operating performance, the ability to maintain
large client contracts or to enter into new contracts, changes in trends in the
pharmaceutical industry, and the ability to operate successfully in new lines of
business. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially are discussed in the company's recent filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its Annual Report on Form
10-K, its Form 8-Ks, and its other periodic reports, including Form 10-Qs.

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