ICON Receives 2018 CRO Phase IV Leadership Award

Dublin, Ireland, 27 April 2018 – ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) a global provider of drug development solutions and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, has won a 2018 CRO Leadership Award in the category Phase IV (Overall, Big Pharma) from Life Science Leader.

For the 2018 CRO Leadership Awards, Life Science Leader magazine teamed up with Industry Standard Research (ISR) to determine the award recipients. 70 contract research organisations were assessed on 20+ performance metrics in ISR’s annual CRO Quality Benchmarking survey. Survey participants were recruited from pharma and biopharma companies of all sizes and were screened for decision-making influence related to working with contract research organisations.

“ICON is delighted to receive this award which recognises the success of our Real World Evidence and Late Phase operational and scientific experts, who are helping clients to identify, generate, synthesise and communicate treatment value and safety,” commented Ramita Tandon, Executive VP, Commercialisation & Outcomes, ICON plc. “Our integrated Commercialisation & Outcomes teams work in close collaboration to deliver seamless solutions that ultimately lead to better, more informed health decisions by regulators, payers, providers and patients.”

The award recognises ICON’s specialised services offering, spanning the entire product development lifecycle, to assist pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies to bring new drugs and devices to market faster.

“Industry Standard Research is honoured to conduct the research for Life Science Leader’s CRO Awards. ISR’s stringent screening processes and the high calibre of qualification required to participate in our CRO benchmarking research means that real customers provide experiential feedback on their involvement with contract suppliers over the past 18 months. This enables users of ISR’s research to make confident business decisions based on the experiences of their industry peers.”  Andrew Schafer, President of Industry Standard Research.

ICON previously received a CRO Leadership Award in 2015.

A full list of ICON’s industry awards can be viewed at www.iconplc.com/awards. 

About ICON plc

ICON plc is a global provider of drug development solutions and 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. With headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, ICON currently, operates from 97 locations in 38 countries and has approximately 13,250 employees.

ICON Media Contact

Olivia Pimenta

Senior Associate at 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.