The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD announced that ICON, a Dublin-based global provider of drug development and commercialization services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, has been awarded €4 million in R&D support administered by Enterprise Ireland to further enhance its data solutions and decentralized clinical trial technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the clinical research industry’s move to hybrid and decentralized trials, requiring researchers and regulatory bodies to adapt to the ways participants live their connected and mobile lives. As the most advanced healthcare intelligence and clinical research organization in the industry, ICON will utilize the funding to further invest in the build-out of its world-class technology and data solutions architecture. The support will promote broad clinical research participation while also delivering real-time access to data, higher levels of security, and improved timelines and reduced costs for customers.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD said, “I’m really happy Government is in a position to invest €4m in one of Ireland’s best known and respected life sciences companies. This funding will go into research and development in digital health technology and data analytics. The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the importance of both areas. With its roots in Dublin, ICON has grown into a global team of 38,000 dedicated employees. It is a real success story. I wish the team the very best of luck with this project, which I have no doubt will result in better outcomes for patients here in Ireland and worldwide.”
The R&D support will help development of tech-enabled systems that provide greater flexibility and reduce the burden felt by clinical trial participants. In addition to visiting sites and meeting with trial investigators when needed, clinical trial participants should also have the choice to utilize virtual visits with their care teams, file eConsent forms, and report outcomes on mobile and wearable devices as part of their clinical trial experience. These options, combined with real-time data availability and analysis, improve participant retention and reduce the timelines and costs for trial sponsors.
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