Icon acquires new businesses for its FSP business

Icon has acquired Cross County Healthcare's Clinical Trial Services Division.

Icon has announced the expansion of its functional service provider (FSP) activities through the acquisition of the Clinical Trial Services Division (CTSD) of Cross County Healthcare in a deal worth $52 million (£33 million) plus up to $3.75 million (£2.38 million) related to performance-based milestones.

The company, which provides outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, will take on services including ClinForce and Assent Consulting; services that offer pharma companies contract stuffing, permanent placements and functional service provision.

The CTSD acquisition will also bring with it the addition of AKOS, which provides pharmacovigilance and drug safety services in the US and Europe, to the company's portfolio.

Ciaran Murray, chief executive of Icon, said that the acquisition will help the firm address the continually rising demand for flexible resourcing solutions across biophama companies that turn to outsourced models to meet their development goals in a more efficient manner.

He said: "The ClinForce and Assent businesses will significantly expand our resourcing and FSP capabilities in the US and, when combined with [Icon's FSP department's] strong European footprint and growing emerging markets presence, gives us the ability to deliver truly global resourcing solutions."