ICON Announces Collaboration to Develop New Translational Medicine Unit

Dublin, Ireland, June 16th, 2009

-ICON plc, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it has signed a collaborative agreement with the Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation (CMFT) to develop a purpose built translational medicine facility.    

The new facility will form part of an ambitious expansion plan being undertaken by Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust (CMFT) to develop the existing Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) campus. This re-development plan has already delivered Britain's largest children's hospital, which is due to open later in 2009. The remainder of the campus development is due for completion by April 2012 and will house an ICON-designed state-of-the-art Translational Medicine Unit. In the interim period ICON will transfer its current clinical pharmacology services into dedicated clinical research facilities on the Manchester Royal Infirmary site.  

Commenting on the announcement, Dr Thomas Frey, President, ICON Development Solutions, said "We are delighted to be collaborating with the CMFT and the Manchester Academic Health Centre to continue to develop the region as an international centre of excellence in translational medicine. Moving to a hospital-based setting also meets the needs of our customers who are increasingly looking to run their first-in-human studies in hospital environments."

Mike Deegan, Chief Executive of the CMFT added: "Our aim is to build upon our investments in facilities and high calibre clinical academic staff to consolidate our reputation as a leading international research hospital. This exciting new collaboration with ICON is a major step for the Trust and will accelerate the translation of research discoveries into new medicines. We look forward to working with the highly regarded ICON team."

CMFT is a member of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) which is one of only five centres designated by the Department of Health as a centre of excellence in applying health research and education into healthcare. Through the collaboration ICON will share expertise and has access to the facilities of the other NHS members and the University of Manchester. Commenting on the collaboration, Linda Magee, Chief Operating Officer, MAHSC said "ICON is one of MAHSC's selected industry partners and we are delighted they are developing their facilities with one of the MAHSC members, CMFT. As well as ICON's complementary capabilities in clinical trials, we greatly value their commitment and contribution to education and training for clinical academics."     

Dr Allison Jeynes-Ellis, Medical and Innovation Director at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), said: "This is an example of the type of collaboration between industry, academia and the NHS that the ABPI is seeking to encourage and which we believe will help drive forward translational medicine, building on the strength of the pharmaceutical, science and clinical base in the UK."

About ICON plc

ICON plc is a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The Company specialises in the strategic development, management and analysis of programs that support clinical development - from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. ICON currently has over 7,100 employees, operating from 71 locations in 38 countries. Further information is available at

www.iconplc.com

About Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust

The Trust was established in April 2001 following public consultation to merge the then Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust and Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust. It was authorised as a Foundation Trust by Monitor and from January 1 2009 became known as Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It now has 1,208 beds across six hospitals and approximately 8,000 staff.

http://www.cmft.nhs.uk/

About Manchester Academic Health Science Centre

The Manchester Academic Health Science Centre is a partnership between six NHS organisations in Greater Manchester and The University of Manchester. Manchester AHSC was formally established in July 2008 to underpin the development of Greater Manchester as a world leader in health research. A federation, which interconnects Manchester's existing research activity and research partnerships, offers huge potential and opportunities and will generate health benefits, economic development, enterprise, innovation and wealth creation in Greater Manchester and the wider North West.

http://www.mahsc.ac.uk/