ICON Central Labs in Singapore Moves to New Facility to Meet Growing Demand

Dublin, Ireland, 26th June 2009 - ICON plc, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it has moved its Singapore central laboratory to a new, larger facility located at Loyang Way, Eastern Singapore. The new laboratory meets the growth in demand for ICON Central Laboratories' services in Singapore, which has increased by 149% over the past six months. The larger facility also enables ICON Central Laboratories to expand its test menu offerings in the region to include increased esoteric testing as well as flow cytometry, molecular diagnostics and biomarkers, to complement the services of ICON's other wholly-owned central laboratories in Europe, India and the United States.

"As ICON celebrates its tenth year of operation in Singapore, our move to a larger laboratory signals our continued commitment to the region," commented Bob Scott-Edwards, President, ICON Central Laboratories. "Singapore has become a regional hub for drug development in Asia-Pacific and we now have the capacity, the range of testing services and, above all, a highly experienced team of lab professionals to support the growth of clinical trials in the region."

ICON Central Laboratories Singapore supports all major therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, oncology, endocrinology and metabolism, and virology.  The laboratory serves as a regional hub for test samples from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and Indonesia.  ICON Central Laboratories Singapore received CAP (College of American Pathologists) accreditation in March 2009, ensuring the highest standards of excellence in laboratory services.  

About ICON Central Laboratories
ICON Central Laboratories, a division of ICON plc, provides full service, global central laboratory services from core facilities in New York, Dublin, Singapore and India, as well as through quality affiliate laboratories in China and Japan.  An extensive test menu of safety, esoteric and custom-developed assays, including global flow cytometry, is complemented by dedicated, sponsor-specific project teams and a single, comprehensive database for each study as well as a user-friendly, web-based, secure remote data access system. ICON Central Laboratories also offers a unique service to manage and compile laboratory data when a client's study requires the use of local laboratories. For more information, visit www.icolabs.com.