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Externalised development for biotechnology companies

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A highly-specialised development team with a global infrastructure.

Many biotechnology companies prefer a light internal infrastructure and minimal resourcing, seeking to work with a drug development partner that has both experience bringing novel therapies to market, and can provide the full spectrum development expertise.

ICON has experience working with biotechtechology and non-traditional customers such as venture capital, to devise clinical development plans for customers who either lack resources, infrastructure, drug development experience or specific therapeutic expertise.

Outsourced research collaboration model

Case study

For one client, ICON's development plan optimisation reduced development costs by approximately $30 million.

Our team offers:

  • Specialised expertise coupled with global infrastructure and resources
  • Solutions tailored to the biotechs operating model or requirements
  • Development capabilities from preclinical through commercialisation
  • A single organisation providing all core expertise
  • Opportunity for introduction to sources of external capital (investors) including approaches for off-balance sheet development

This flexible model integrates expertise from ICON into the sponsor team and vice versa, allowing optimal resources and institutional knowledge to be shared across multiple assets as required.

In this section
In this section
  • Biotech
    • Behind Biotech: Stories of science and resilience
    • Early phase challenges for biotechs
    • Early phase development: Understanding key obstacles for biotechs in 2024
    • Emerging biotech funding
    • Externalised development for biotechs
    • Early engagement and regulatory considerations for biotech
    • De-risking clinical development of precision medicines in oncology
    • Methods and technologies advancing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s R&D
    • ICON survey report: CNS therapeutic development
    • 2025 biotech survey report
    • 2025 Global biotech survey report
    • 2025 China biotech survey report
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Biotech sector survey: From investment confidence to strategic collaborations

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