ICON Releases NONMEM® 7.2

New Version Includes Improvements to Complex Population-based Data Analyses

Dublin, Ireland, May 9th, 2011 – ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR; ISIN:IE0005711209), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced the release of a new version of NONMEM®, ICON’s non-linear, mixed effects modeling tool for Population Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data analysis.

One year following the release of NONMEM® 7, which included a new suite of statistical methods to support more complex models for analysing Population PK/PD data and a more comprehensive range of classical estimation methods, ICON has released NONMEM® 7.2, which includes the following enhancements:

• Parallel computing of a single problem over multiple cores or computers, significantly reducing completion time. 
• Dynamic memory allocation according to problem size, eliminating the need to recompile the NONMEM® program for unusually large problems. User may override program generated suggested values using a statement in the control stream.
• Other improvements include control stream files that may be written in mixed case, added flexibility in the input and output of variance matrix parameters, XML markup version of the NONMEM® report file, as well as features to facilitate stochastic differential equations (SDE).

“NONMEM® has been relied on by the PK/PD modeling community for over 30 years so we understand the importance of continuously improving this trusted tool for analysing Population Pharmacometric data,” commented Dr. Thomas Frey, President, ICON Development Solutions. “Statistical analysis with NONMEM helps sponsors determine appropriate dosing strategies for their products, and increases their understanding of drug mechanisms and interactions. With NONMEM’s new features, such as parallel computing and dynamic memory allocation, the information needed for critical decision-making will be available faster and more efficiently.”