Hannah Richter

Dublin, Ireland, 30 July, 2015 – ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) 

a global provider of drug development solutions and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced a partnership with Mereo BioPharma Group Ltd, a recently-formed speciality biopharmaceutical company. Under the partnership, ICON will be the sole provider of clinical development services to Mereo.       .......

	Mereo is a new UK company that is focused on acquiring, rapidly developing and commercialising innovative medicines that are targeted at rare and specialist disease areas. The company’s initial portfolio consists of clinical-stage products acquired from Novartis and are targeted at brittle bone syndrome, acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

	Commenting on the partnership, Ciaran Murray, CEO, ICON plc, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as Mereo’s clinical development partner. It is a further endorsement of ICON’s expertise in operating under partnership models which leverage our deep industry expertise, operational excellence and differentiated technology solutions. We look forward to helping Mereo accelerate the development of their pipeline and bring to market drugs that will enhance the quality of patients’ lives.”

	Mereo BioPharma’s CEO, Dr Denise Scots-Knight, commented: “Our partnership with ICON provides us with a dedicated and experienced global team that is already working closely with Mereo.  The relationship is designed not only to help us conduct global clinical studies as we develop our product portfolio, but also to leverage ICON’s broader consulting expertise. We look forward to a fruitful alliance, progressing our pipeline in the clinic and ultimately delivering new valuable medicines to patients.”

Articles

ICON Forms Partnership with Mereo BioPharma for Clinical Development

 Sharp Clinical Services, part of UDG Healthcare plc, (LON: UDG), the leading international provider of healthcare services, has expanded its storage and packaging facilities in the UK by an additional 5,000 square feet, creating an additional 10 roles at the site. The new facility based in Crickhowell is now the fourth unit of the existing Waller House building and comprises of 150 additional pallet spaces and two assembly lines. The Company’s investment is in response to new product introductions approved by the regulatory authorities. 

	Sharp Clinical Services is a leading provider of specialist clinical supply chain services to both large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies in the UK and US, from drug product development, analytical and manufacturing services through to increasingly complex clinical trial supplies packaging, clinical labeling and clinical distribution services. Sharp Clinical Services has a proven track record in managing the entire clinical supply chain and has a Global Depot Network of 18 depots supporting over 25 countries.

Ian Morgan, General Manager of Sharp Clinical Services UK, commented on the expansion:

 “The expansion of the Crickhowell facility is a landmark moment for Sharp Clinical Services in the UK, and enables us to deliver excellent, high quality service to our existing and new customers as demand for our services increases in the UK. The first commercial test ran at the end of May and full production will begin in July.”

Frank Lis, President of Sharp Clinical Services added:

 “This expansion has increased our global footprint and will allow us to provide our customers with a full range of services, from formulation development and pre-clinical supplies through to product launch.”

Sharp Clinical Services Expand Facilities In Crickhowell, UK

 (Plymouth Meeting, PA ) announced two new additions to the company's executive leadership team. 

, with 25 years of direct commercial experience in the clinical research and pharmaceutical sectors has been appointed Chief Business Officer and a member of the executive team. 

 joins CRF Health as Chief Technology Officer and brings a proven track record in R&D management and organizational leadership in a global environment. 

(Newtown, PA) announced that it has appointed 

, PhD, FCP, as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors.

(Cincinnati, OH) announced the appointment of 

, MA, CIP, CHRC, as board chair. Rogers, previously of Dartmouth College's IRB, will join Schulman's board leadership and will guide the organization in expanding services for its more than 1800 institutional clients.

(publ) (Stockholm, Sweden) has recruited 

 to the position as Clinical Trial Manager.

 (Raleigh, NC) announced the appointment of 

 to the Company’s Board of Directors.  Kender, who is an independent director for all SEC and Nasdaq purposes, will be a Class III director, serving for a term ending at the Company’s annual meeting in 2017. Kender will serve on the Company’s Audit Committee.

 (Rockville, MD) announced the appointment of 

 to President, effective Jan. 1. She succeeds 

, who is departing MMG to become CEO of a Pennsylvania-based publishing company.

 has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer. Argay comes to the company with over 25 years experience in marketing leadership positions and a consistent track record of launching and building businesses in product and service companies, large and small.

 (Durham, NC) announced the appointment of G. 

, MD, MPH, as Interim CEO, effective immediately. DeCherney is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Division of Endocrinology, Adjunct Professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a director of several corporations active in drug development and clinical research.

CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services 

(Cincinnati, OH), announced the following new hires: 

 joins as Administrative Assistant/Project Coordinator; 

 joins as Assistant Manager, Business Development Operations; and 

 joins as Assistant Director, Clinical Trials. CTI also announced the following promotions: 

promoted to Senior Regulatory Specialist; 

 promoted to Senior Clinical Trial Assistant; 

, PhD promoted to Associate Director, Health Economics.

 (South Plainfield, NJ) announced the expansion of its South Plainfield manufacturing facility.  A new long-term lease on the space adjoining its current facility is adding 24,000 square feet to the existing 24,000 square feet. In addition, the company this month secured 12,000 square feet of new executive and administrative space at One Cragwood Road, South Plainfield, which will serve as its new headquarters.

(Cambridge, MA) announced that it has won a European Venture Contest award.  The award program, which is part of the European Venture Summit, acknowledged CluePoints for its Central Statistical Monitoring (CSM) solution that employs unique statistical algorithms to determine the quality, accuracy and integrity of clinical trial data.

(New York, NY) announced that it has been named one of the 2015 Best Companies to Work for in New York State by the New York State Society for Human Resource Management (NYS-SHRM). Created in 2007, the Best Companies to Work for in New York State awards are part of a distinctive program designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in New York whose practices benefit the state’s businesses, economy and workforce.

Industry news focusing on the people and organizations who work in the clinical trials profession.

Business and People January 2015

, PhD, has joined the company as a clinical consultant with expertise in the areas of cognition, aging, and dementia. They also announced the addition of 

, PhD, as Vice President, Scientific Innovation.

 recently returned to the CSSi team as a Project Manager. In her new role as Project Manager at CSSi, Karen will utilize her technical and managerial knowledge of clinical development plans and electronic medical records to meet the increasing needs of CSSi's clients in the U.S. and other countries.

 (Research Triangle Park, NC) announced that 

, MB, BS, has been appointed as the Vice President and Global Head of Risk Management for its real-world and late phase research group.

 (New York, NY) announced the addition of Mina Pastagia, MD, MS, to the team as Medical Director and Principal Investigator at the company’s Phase I unit in New York City.

Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD) 

(Wilmington, NC) announced the addition of Bhooshi De Silva as Senior Vice President of Corporation Development and Strategy to its executive leadership team.

CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services

 (Cincinnati, OH) announced the promotion of 

 to Chief Operating Officer, with direct management oversight of CTI’s global clinical trial operations; and 

, MBA, to Vice President, International, leading the strategic global expansion and oversight in Europe and Latin America. CTI also announced the following new hires: 

, PhD joined as Director, Project Management Europe; 

, PhD joined as a Senior Medical Writer; 

 joined as a Study Manager; Ashley Perry joined as an Assistant Project Manager; 

 joined as an Administrative Assistant – EU; 

, RPh joins as Operations Manager, Latin America; 

 joins as Senior Manager, Business Development & Client Management; 

 joins as Information Technology Support Specialist; and 

 joins as Patient Recruiter. CTI also announced the following promotions: 

 to Associate Director, Clinical Trials; 

 promoted to Senior Study Coordinator; and 

 (Boston, MA and Geneva, Switzerland) announced the promotion of Vice President of Service Delivery, 

(Geneva, Switzerland) announced the appointment of 

, MD, as Medical Director Clinical Research and Project Director Oncology. 

 (Dublin, Ireland) announced the appointment of 

 (Raleigh, NC) announced the promotion of 

 has been named an industry “Rising Star” by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

, RN, MPA, was named Senior Vice President, Clinical Services. 

(Malvern, PA) announced the appointment of 

 to the newly created position of Vice President of electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment and electronic Patient Reported Outcomes.

 (Cheshire, UK) announced the addition of 

, who was formerly the Head of Education and Training at the Institute of Clinical Research, to the Redtree Management Team and Board.

 (Rochester, NY) announced the addition of 

 (Chapel Hill, NC) announced the addition of 

(Craigavon, Northern Ireland) announced that the company picked up the Excellence in Innovation and Excellence in Technology category awards at the Belfast Telegraph Business Award gala ceremony in association with British Airways. 

 (Dublin, Ireland) announced it was named Best Clinical Research Organization in the Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards. ICON was presented with the award at the World Vaccine Congress, which took place in Washington. ICON was also the only CRO awarded the Informatica Innovation Award for Improved Decisions, announced at the annual Informatica conference, which took place in Las Vegas.

 (Philadelphia, PA) announced it received Omega Management Group Corp.’s NorthFace ScoreBoard Award for consistently delivering outstanding customer service in 2013. This marks the second year in a row that ERT has been recognized for achieving excellence in customer satisfaction, as rated solely by its customer.

 (Newton, MA) announced that it won the Disruptive Innovator and Technology of the Year award from Partnerships in Clinical Trials 2014.

(Rockville, MD) announced its Custom Conversations platform won the Patient Idol innovation competition at the Patients as Partners Conference in Philadelphia. 

 (Edinburgh, Scotland) was announced as the winners of the “Business Innovation of the Year” award sponsored by Microsoft presented during the Scottish Business Awards, held at the Edinburgh International Conference Center.

 (Verona, Italy) announced the official opening of a new office building in Verona, Italy, and adds to existing office facilities and doubles the capacity of their European Headquarters in Verona.

 (Exton, PA) announced the finalization of plans to build a new 33,000 square foot clinical research center in Secaucus, NJ>

Business and People May 2014

 (Needham, MA) announced the addition of 

, MD, as Advisory Board Chairman. Guerra has been in the global biopharmaceutical industry for more than 30 years, including 24 years at Merck & Co.  

 PhD, as Director of Metabolic Research. Based in ICON's Clinical Pharmacology Unit in San Antonio, TX. Elahi will lead ICON's early phase glucose clamping programs globally.  

 (Camberley, UK) announced the appointment of two senior executives to its team. 

, PhD, has joined as Vice President, Clinical Development, Oncology. 

 PhD, has joined as Executive Director, Clinical Development, Oncology. INC also announced the addition of 

 PhD, as Vice President, Clinical Pharmacology; and 

as Senior Vice President of its Global Consulting Unit.  

, MD, PhD, has joined its Clinical Development Services business as Vice President and Global Therapeutic Area Head of the expanded Cardiovascular, Metabolic, and Scientific Affaris leadership team. 

• Vetter Development Services USA, Inc.

, PhD, was elected to the board of the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization. 

 (Cambridge, MA) announced three new appointments to its global team. 

 join the company's US Business Development Team. 

, President of the Board of Directors of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, was welcomed as a member of the board.  

, (St. Petersburg, Russia) a Russia-based CRO, announced that 

, (Stevenage, England) a Quintiles company, announced the addition of 

, PhD, MBA, as their new Managing Director of European and Asian Operations. 

• The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) 

 (Sawbridgeworth, UK) announced the appointment of 

• CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services (CTI)

 (Cincinnati, OH) announced the addition of 

 as Director, Global Safety and Pharmacovigilance. 

(Philadelphia, PA) announced that Philadelphia SmartCEO has recognized the company in its Future 50 Awards program. The program recognizes the region's fastest-growing mid-sized and large Blue Chip companies that have experienced outsized growth based on a combined three-year average of revenue and employee growth.  

• Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD)

 (Wilmington, NC) announced the company was ranked among the top US businesses for employee learning and development by 

 magazine. The recognition marks the third consecutive ranking for PPD on the annual Training Top 125 list.  

 (Dallas, TX) announced that it took home the gold in the 2014 AVA Digital Awards competition of writing, design, and execution of its DACTracks digital marketing campaign.  

 (Madison, WI) announced that the Research Resonance Network received the Clinical Informatics News Best Practices Award in the category of Clinical Data Intelligence. The Research Resonance Network—which was developed through collaboration with research organizations and offers free tools for continuous improvement—was recognized for its standards-based approach to improving clinical research operations.  

 (Cincinnati, OH) was named Blue Ash Corporation of the Year by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. The award recognizes outstanding companies in one of Cincinnati USA's most vibrant business communities. 

Business and People April 2014

, MD, as Advisory Board Chairman. Guerra has been in the global biopharmaceutical industry for 30+ years, including 24 years at Merck.

as Director of Metabolic Research. Based in ICON’s Clinical Pharmacology Unit in San Antonio, US, Elahi will lead ICON’s early phase glucose clamping programs globally.

, PhD, has joined as Executive Director, Clinical Development, Oncology. INC also announced the addition of 

, PhD, as Vice President, Clinical Pharmacology; and Jane Winter as Senior Vice President of its Global Consulting Unit.

 (Princeton, NJ) announced that Barry J. Goldstein, MD, PhD, has joined its Clinical Development Services business as Vice President and Global Therapeutic Area Head of the expanded Cardiovascular, Metabolic, and Scientific Affaris leadership team.

(Chicago, IL) announced that President Claudia Roth, PhD, was elected to the board of the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization.

 has joined the company as COO. Barker’s role will be focused on expanding Synergy’s business into clients in the USA. Barker has previously served as VP of Project Management at Quintiles.

 (Needham, MA) announced the addition of Senior Associate

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) 

(Sawbridgeworth, UK) announced the appointment of 

 as Vice President of Operations. His responsibilities include ensuring that processes are as streamlined and efficient as possible for customers, while also ensuring full continuity of robust delivery programs as Exco InTouch continues to grow the volume of its business. 

, PhD, MBA, as their new Managing Director of European and Asian Operations.

 join the company’s US Business Development Team. 

, President of the Board of Directors of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, was welcomed as a member of its board.

 (Philadelphia, PA) announced that Philadelphia SmartCEO has recognized the company in its Future 50 Awards program. The program recognizes the region’s fastest-growing mid-sized and large Blue Chip companies that have experienced outsized growth based on a combined three-year average of revenue and employee growth.

Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLD (PPD) 