An alliance made in Tianjin

Q: Please give an update on the India and Singapore laboratories. In what ways the opening of a new laboratory in China complements the aformentioned laboratories?

A: Icon has been operational in the Asia Pacific region for over 10 years with existing laboratories in Bangalore and Singapore. Icon currently employs 800 staff in the Asia Pacific region.

Having a third full service central laboratory in Asia Pacific provides clients with a faster and more cost efficient service with overall benefits including shorter shipping distances between clinical sites and existing laboratory testing facilities which expedites study completion.

Q: What are the reasons for choosing China instead of other countries in Asia?

A: Asia Pacific has always been an important region for Icon. Tianjin is one of China’s most accessible and technologically advanced cities, located only 70 miles from Beijing.

The new facility will offer our clients increased capacity for conducting complex clinical trials in the Asia Pacific region with faster turnaround times to expedite study completion, standard testing platforms to ensure consistency of results for global studies, and reduced costs compared to those incurred conducting trials in the US and EU.

Q: What are the reasons for forming an alliance with FMD and why not go at it alone?

A: Our alliance with FMD and the launch of this new facility underlines our commitment to satisfying our clients’ growing demand for quality central laboratory services in the Asia Pacific region.

The partnership is mutually beneficial. Partnering with us gives the FMD team access to the resources, systems and infrastructure of a large international organisation involved in the management of both large global trials and localised studies. In return, FMD’s local knowledge and experience will be utilised by Icon as they work to provide clients with a faster and more cost efficient service.

Q: Please give us your opinion on the current state of the Asian pharmaceutical industry. What do you think will be the trends in the next three to five years?

A: Asia is increasingly regarded as a market of significant and growing importance to the pharmaceutical industry, largely as a result of two factors. Firstly, as the epidemiological profile of Asia changes, the demand for all pharmaceutical products increases. Secondly, Asia's rapidly growing population and economies have created a burgeoning middle class with the resources to afford medications previously primarily available in Western markets.

Consequently, Asia’s indigenous pharmaceutical industry is expanding rapidly, for example, Indian companies are amongst the world leaders in the production of generics and vaccines. China's OTC (Over The Counter) market, worth an estimated US$15bn, is forecasted to grow to US$20bn by the end of 2012 as consumers reduce their consumption of prescription drugs in hospital settings and increasingly self medicate via products purchased in local pharmacies. Similarly, the medical device industry has seen double digit growth in recent years, and is also estimated to be worth US$20bn by the end of 2012.

Global pharmaceutical companies have already established centres of excellence in China, India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Each of these locations offer strategic advantages of their own which range from reduced costs and access to large talent pools of resources, to market opportunities.

The pharmaceutical business model continues to move away from a fully integrated company structure towards a future where companies use a wide range of outsourcing, partnership initiatives and other contractual arrangements to support its activities. Companies in Asia will increasingly form part of this network.

Q: Please comment on the positioning and performance of Icon in Asia, ie how does the company compete and differentiate itself?

A: Asia Pacific is an important region for Icon. As a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, we use our resources and capabilities in Asia Pacific to form part of our strategic development, management and analysis programs that support clinical development from compound selection to phase one-four clinical studies.

Icon provides highly responsive customised services, which can be deployed on a standalone basis or as part of an integrated full service solution. These services can support both global and locally managed projects. Icon was the first CRO to be awarded ISO 9001:2000 quality certification. Our facilities have been fully accredited by CAP. We were also among the first central laboratories to receive ISO 17025 quality certification. Our management structure, operating procedures and culture are focused on delivering quality data to our clients.

Q: Going forward, what ambitions do you have for your division?

A: In addition to the further development of our global laboratory capabilities, we will focus on improving the delivery of innovative, fully integrated data and clinical information solutions to our clients.

Icon’s goal will be not only to differentiate what we offer but the way in which we offer it to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who seek increasingly efficient and cost effective drug services.