ICON named Business & Finance Company of the Year and one of Forbes’ Best Employers for Diversity

ICON kick starts the first half of 2022 with a string of prestigious industry awards recognising healthcare intelligence work and staff, as independently judged by peers worldwide

Dublin, Ireland – 23 May 2022 – ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) a global provider of drug and device development and commercialisation services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and government organisations, has been recognised with a number of prestigious business and industry awards in April 2022, including Company of the Year at the 2021 Business & Finance Irish Business Awards and Pharma Contract Services Company of the Year at the Pharma Industry Awards 2021.

This is the second time the healthcare intelligence company has received the prestigious Company of the Year accolade from the Business and Finance Awards Programme, having previously won in 2016. Winners are chosen by an independent panel of industry professional judges, who review market position, operational and financial achievements, company culture and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors.

Having already been announced as one of America’s Best Large Employers in 2022 by Forbes, ICON has also been recognised as one of America’s Best Employers for Diversity for the second year running. Inclusion is one of the core values at ICON, and has been a considerable focus for the company as part of its overall ESG strategy. In addition to building key community groups across the business, over the last year dedicated diversity training has been rolled out to people leaders to support them in creating a sense of connection and belonging within their teams.

Commenting on the company’s recent success, Steve Cutler, CEO, ICON plc said: “To be the recipient of these awards is exceptionally gratifying as we grow and evolve our business to be the healthcare intelligence partner of choice. A number of important areas of focus are reflected in these successes - our commitment to supporting our clients and improving patients’ lives; being an employer of choice and providing opportunity to all of our people; and the way in which we operate alongside our focus on developing new and innovative solutions to what we do and how we do it. Most significantly, these awards really reflect the exceptional talent that we have here at ICON, right across our business.”

Additional industry awards and recognition

In April, ICON won two Stevie® Awards in The 20th Annual American Business Awards®. It received a Silver award in the Cloud Application/Service category for ARCADES, its next generation data integration tool, and a Bronze award in the Business or Competitive Intelligence Solution category for IcoNex, which enables greater connection between key opinion leaders working in the same therapeutic area. More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners.

Further success for ICON came in the 2022 CRO Leadership Awards, where it was recognised in the Compatibility (Big Pharma) category. Winning CROs are chosen through impartial market research based on feedback from sponsor companies that utilise their outsourcing services.

Barry Balfe, President, ICON Pharma Solutions commented: “Being a partner of choice for our clients means that we collaborate with them and deliver insight, we are responsive to their needs and we deliver efficiently and on time. This compatibility award is recognition that our clients not only find us easy to work with, but that we also support them in achieving their desired outcomes. This is hugely positive feedback for our teams here at ICON.”

The strength of ICON’s leaders has also been recognised. In March, Dr Nuala Murphy, President of Development and Commercialisation Solutions, was announced as the 2021 Chambers Ireland InBusiness Businesswoman of the Year.  Nuala’s team is focused on delivering integrated solutions that enable clients to expedite the development of drugs and devices and to drive the adoption of decentralised trials.  She also leads the company’s approaches to increase patient participation and diversity in clinical trials. Nuala led the team that delivered the pivotal phase 3 Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.

“I am honoured to receive this award. It is an acknowledgement of what we, as a team, have been able to achieve in pioneering new approaches to clinical research that are more efficient and effective, and that ultimately drive better solutions for our clients and better outcomes for patients. To be part of cutting edge, clinical research is hugely rewarding. I’m proud of what our teams at ICON have been able to do to drive transformation in our industry.”

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

About ICON plc

ICON is a world-leading healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation. From molecule to medicine, we advance clinical research providing outsourced development and commercialisation services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government and public health organisations. We develop new innovations, drive emerging therapies forward and improve patient lives. With headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, ICON employed approximately 39,300 employees in 138 locations in 53 countries as at March 31, 2022. For further information about ICON, visit: www.iconplc.com.