ICON and AMAG Pharmaceuticals honoured as Clinical Research Team of the Year

Dublin, Ireland, 30 April 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, together with AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. it has won the Clinical Research Team of the Year award at the 2018 Clinical and Research Excellence (CARE) Awards which took place in Boston, Mass. on 25 April. 

The award honoured the achievements of the team for executing a Phase III iron deficiency anaemia trial, the success of which allowed AMAG Pharmaceuticals to submit for regulatory approval almost six months earlier than planned. Project success contributed to earlier approval for the therapy making it available to additional patients earlier than originally planned.

The ICON team applied agile methods to deliver these results, including early recognition of risks and stakeholder buy-in, developing thorough mitigation plans, transparent communication, designing incentives to encourage team retention, and converting a unit-based contract to a milestone-based contract to maintain focus on operational delivery. This comprehensive team approach allowed the first site to be initiated two weeks early, the first patient to be randomised 30 days early, the last patient to be randomised more than five months ahead of schedule and eventually data base lock was achieved four months earlier than initially planned.

Commenting on the award, ICON's Chief Executive, Steve Cutler, said: “We are proud that the expertise of our clinical research teams and our partnership approach with our customers has received industry recognition. I am particularly pleased to see us beating timelines in site activation and patient recruitment. Helping our customers to accelerate drug development to improve quality of life is a key priority at ICON, and this has been successfully executed by the hard work of the combined AMAG and ICON team.”

“AMAG is committed to researching,​ developing ​and commercializing therapies to address unmet medical needs and often-overlooked conditions,” said William Heiden, AMAG’s president and chief executive officer,. “As a result of our partnership with ICON, not only ​are we ​now ​able to help ​ more patients in need, but we ​were able to do so four months earlier than expected​ through rapid execution of this key clinical study​. It takes a strong partnership to be able to flawlessly execute a clinical trial. I’m incredibly proud of our team and their achievements​.” 

The CARE Awards celebrate the outstanding clinical research achievements from 2018. The awards showcase excellence in clinical trial design, technological advancements within the industry, outstanding research results, as well as achievements of individuals, departments, teams, or organisations. Award winners have contributed to the advancement of therapies for unmet medical needs, undertaken ground-breaking collaborations, and contributed to positive clinical outcomes while demonstrating best practices and innovation.

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
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.