ICON plc : ICON Strengthens Global Scientific Council with the Appointments of Professor Brendan Buckley and Dr. Nicholas Alp

Dublin, Ireland, January 24, 2012 - ICON plc (NASDAQ: ICLR; ISIN:IE0005711209), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced the appointment of Professor Brendan Buckley and Dr. Nicholas Alp to the company's Global Scientific Council. ICON's Scientific Council is a team of ICON experts with broad industry experience and knowledge of the scientific, technical and therapeutic aspects of product development, from concept through to approval.

Professor Brendan Buckley has been appointed Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs, having joined ICON in July 2011 through the company's acquisition of Firecrest Clinical. An endocrinologist with over 30 years' experience, Professor Buckley is Honorary Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the School of Medicine, University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. He has been a Board member of the Irish Medicines Board and of the EMA's Scientific Advisory Group for Diabetes and Endocrinology since 2005. He was also a member of the EMA Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products from 2000-2003 and a member of the EMA's panel of experts. Professor Buckley chairs several independent Data and Safety Monitoring Boards in cardio-metabolic disease and in rare diseases.

Dr. Nicholas Alp has been appointed Vice President and Therapeutic Area Leader for Cardiovascular and is based in Marlow, UK. Dr Alp trained in medicine at London and Oxford Universities and completed a PhD in Immunology at Cambridge University with a further post-doctoral DM degree in Vascular Biology at Oxford University. Prior to joining ICON, Dr. Alp held senior appointments in Cardiovascular Medicine at Oxford University, and as a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust. With more than 17 years of clinical research experience, and membership of research fund committees, he has developed substantial insight into clinical trial design, research ethics and regulatory processes.

"We are delighted to welcome Professor Buckley and Dr. Alp to the Global Scientific Council," commented Jonathan Goldman, Executive Vice President, Strategic Development at ICON. "Their expertise will be an invaluable resource to help sponsors shape their product development strategies and they will also offer strong guidance to ICON study teams. These appointments are part of ICON's ongoing commitment to strengthen and expand its scientific expertise to provide clients with a fully integrated, strategic development service."

The services provided by the Global Scientific Council span the full development cycle from product concept through development to post-approval activities, and are applicable to drugs, biologics, combination products, pure devices and diagnostics. Members of the Council are experts within their field, with many years of experience in product development.