ICON named by Forbes as one of the best employers in America

Dublin, Ireland, 16 May 2018 – ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) a global provider of drug development solutions and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it has been included in Forbes magazine’s America’s Best Employers list for 2018.

The Forbes list features the top 500 large employers in the US with more than 5,000 employees, and the top 500 midsize companies with 1,000 – 5,000 employees. ICON was the highest ranked CRO in the best large employers listing, and is amongst the top 10 companies in the ‘Drugs & Biotechnology’ industry sector ranking. This is the second consecutive year that ICON has been the top ranked CRO.

Forbes ‘America’s Best Employers List’ is determined following an independent, online survey of almost 30,000 employees at companies with at least 1,000 people, from 25 industry sectors. The voluntary participation in online panels allowed employees to share their opinions about their employers openly and without any influence from their employer.  Respondents were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their own companies on a scale of 0 – 10, and were also asked to name good and bad employers in industry sectors other than their own.

“We are proud to be named by Forbes as one of the best employers in America for the second consecutive year, and to be ranked the top CRO and amongst the top 10 employers in the Drugs and Biotechnology industry overall,” commented Dr. Steve Cutler, Chief Executive Officer, ICON. “We are pleased that our employees are recommending ICON as an excellent place to work. We have great people who are committed to helping our clients to accelerate the development of drugs and devices that are saving lives and improving the quality of life of patients right across the globe. We will continue to work hard to ensure that we provide a work environment that engages, rewards and develops our employees so that they can build successful careers at ICON.”

About ICON
ICON plc is a global provider of outsourced drug development and commercialisation solutions and services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and government and public health organisations. 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. With headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, ICON currently, operates from 98 locations in 38 countries and has approximately 13,380 employees. Further information is available at www.iconplc.com.

ICON Media Contact
Olivia Pimenta
Weber Shandwick
+44 (0)207 067 0557

OPimenta@webershandwick.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and information currently available, including current economic and industry conditions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actual results, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those stated in this press release. The forward-looking statements are subject to future events, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the statements, including, but not limited to, the ability to enter into new contracts, maintain client relationships, manage the opening of new offices and offering of new services, the integration of new business mergers and acquisitions, as well as economic and global market conditions and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in SEC reports filed by ICON, all of which are difficult to predict and some of which are beyond our control. For these reasons, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements when making investment decisions. The word "expected" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in SEC reports filed by ICON, including its Form 20-F, F-1, S-8 and F-3, which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.