ICON is an Irish-headquartered developer of drugs to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. ICON offers consulting, clinical development and commercialisation services in a broad range of therapeutic areas from a global network of offices., ICON had 14,400 employees in 98 locations spread across 40 countries.
History
ICON was founded in Dublin, Ireland, by John Climax, Ph.D., and Ronan Lambe, Ph.D., in 1990. Since January 2010, Climax has held a position on the board of directors. Lambe retired from the board of directors in 2018. Between 1991 and 1996, ICON opened offices in the United Kingdom, United States, and Japan. A year later, ICON began trading on the Nasdaq exchange. In 2018, ICON won the PharmaTimes Clinical Researcher of the Year. ICON received 2019 Clinical Research Organization leadership awards in five categories, determined by Life Science Leader magazine and Industry Standard Research. Steve Cutler, PhD, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ICON in March 2017, and previously served as Chief Operating Officer.
Acquisitions
2000: ICON acquired UK-based regulatory consultancy, YRCR Ltd.; Central Laboratory in New York; and bioanalytical consultancy, Pacific Research
2002: ICON acquired clinical research provider, BPA.
2003: ICON acquired Medeval, a UK-based Phase I facility, and US consulting firm, Globomax
2004: ICON acquired medical imaging specialist, Beacon Bioscience Inc.
2006: ICON acquired outcomes research and health economics specialist, Ovation Research Group
2007: ICON acquired European staffing group, DOCS International
2008: ICON acquired US phase I provider, Healthcare Discoveries and US bioanalytical lab, Prevalere Life Sciences
2009: ICON acquired Veeda Laboratories, a UK biomarker lab
2010: ICON acquired Timaq Medical Imaging Inc.
2011: ICON acquired Oxford Outcomes, an international health outcomes consultancy and Firecrest Clinical, a technology provider specialising in site performance and study management
2012: ICON acquired PriceSpective, a global value strategy consultancy and Chinese CRO, BeijingWits
2013: ICON acquired staffing and FSP providers, ClinForce and Assent and Akos, an EU provider of pharmacovigilance and drug safety services
2014: ICON acquired Aptiv Solutions, a market leader in adaptive trial design and execution
2015: ICON acquired MediMedia Pharma Solutions to enhance market access and scientific communications capabilities, and PMG Research Inc., an integrated network of clinical research sites in the US
2016: ICON acquired Clinical Research Management Inc., to extend its presence in the government-sponsored research market
2017: ICON acquired MAPI Group, thereby becoming the world’s second-largest provider of late-phase services
2019: ICON acquired Symphony Clinical Research, a leading provider of at-home patient services and site-support services; MediNova, an integrated network of clinical research sites across EMEA; and MolecularMD, to enhance its laboratory offerings in molecular diagnostic testing and immunohistochemistry
Therapeutic Areas
ICON has a broad range of therapeutic areas which include, but are not limited to Oncology, Vaccines, CNS, Cardiovascular and CNS.
Activities
Drug and device development
ICON assists pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies with drug and device development services covering entire lifecycle of product development, ranging from small local clinical trials to large global programs.
Adaptive trials
ICON designs, simulates and executes adaptive clinical trials. ICON states it is the only CRO to offer a validated design, simulation and analysis software platform for adaptive clinical trials. This platform is used by regulatory agenciesaround the world including the FDA, EMA, and PMDA.
Clinical Research Services
ICON specialises in the planning, management, execution, and analysis of Phase II - III clinical trials. ICON’s services within this area include project management, clinical operations/monitoring, patient centric monitoring and data management.
Commercialisation
ICON’s commercialisation and outcomes function includes real world evidence strategy and analytics; late-phase patient and site engagement, and language services; strategic regulatory services; and medical device & diagnostics research. Also, ICON is a sponsor of Mapi Research Trust, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving patients’ quality of life by facilitating access to patient-centered outcome information.
Early phase studies
ICON supports services such as patient studies, clinical research unit, pharmacodynamic models, data visualisation, NONMEM software, PK/PD Pop software, and precision methodology cardiac assessment.
Functional Services Provision (FSP) and Strategic Resourcing
ICON provides global FSP partnerships and strategic resourcing for a range of functions including clinical data management, pharmacovigilance, biostatistics, drug safety, medical writing and for roles such as clinical research associate and clinical trial associate. The company also provides strategic capacity management, program insourcing, and contingent resourcing.
Medical Imaging
ICON incorporates medical imaging as part of their clinical trial support, including assessing clinical trial endpoints for Phase I - IV trials, imaging for efficacy and safety, support for early phase decision-making, and statistical support for validation of novel scales and methods.
Laboratories
ICON provides laboratory services dedicated to clinical development including analytical testing services, central laboratory testing and integrated clinical research.
