ICON Continues Asia-Pacific Expansion with New Office Opening in Shanghai and Senior Appointments in the Region

Dublin, Ireland, March 29th, 2011 – ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR; ISIN:IE0005711209), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced its ongoing expansion in Asia-Pacific. ICON has opened a new office in Shanghai, China, and is also relocating its Beijing operations to larger premises. In addition, ICON has announced the appointment Dr. Malcolm Burgess, to the position of Executive Vice President, Asia-Pacific, and Ms. Paula Mumby, Vice President, Operations, Asia-Pacific for ICON’s resourcing business unit, DOCS.

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Gray, ICON CEO, said, “China is currently the third largest pharmaceutical market in the world and will soon become the second largest, as more and more pharmaceutical companies move their research to this region. We are growing our presence in this important market, as well as the broader Asia-Pacific region, and we have a highly experienced leadership team in place to support our plans for further growth.”

Dr. Malcolm Burgess joined ICON in 2002 and has held a variety of leadership positions within the company, including Chief Operating Officer, US Operations from 2006 – 2009. He has over 30 years’ experience within the pharmaceutical industry and prior to ICON worked with Novartis, Hoechst Marion Roussel and SmithKline Beecham.

Ms. Paula Mumby has over 18 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical, CRO, biotechnology and medical device industries in the UK and Asia Pacific and has more than 10 years’ resourcing experience. Prior to joining DOCS, Ms. Mumby was Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan at i3 Pharma Resourcing and also held a clinical development role at CSL.

ICON has been operating in Asia-Pacific for over 10 years and currently employs over 900 staff in the region. The new office in Shanghai follows ICON’s announcement in June 2010 of a new laboratory facility, which opened in Tianjin, China, in partnership with Fountain Medical Development Ltd (FMD). The new laboratory is ICON’s third laboratory in Asia-Pacific, and offers 3,000 square feet of laboratory space and a comprehensive menu of testing services.

About ICON plc

ICON plc is a global provider of outsourced development 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. ICON currently has around 7,800 employees, operating from 77 locations in 39 countries.

Further information is available at www.iconplc.com

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