Title: Enterprise Ireland Deloitte CEO Forum 09
1Enterprise Ireland / Deloitte CEO Forum 09 Keys
to Success in the New Business Environment ICON
plc Peter Gray November 12th, 2009
2ICON Keys to Success Agenda
- What does ICON do?
- ICON The story so far
- The keys to success so far
- The keys to success in the new business
environment
3What does ICON do?
4ICON A Professional Services Company in field
of Human Clinical Research
- All medicines are tested in humans before being
approved for sale - Phase I Is it safe? - (Healthy Volunteers)
- Phase II Is it safe? - What dose works? (Sick
patients) - Phase III Is it safe? - Does it really work? (A
lot of sick patients) - Phase IV Is it safe? - does it work for another
disease, or in a certain patient type? - ICON manages trials for Pharma and Biotech
companies - finding doctors / hospitals, who have
right patients and right motivation. - We manage them, audit them and gather, verify
and analyse data. - Our Central Lab analyses samples from patients in
trials. Our Imaging Lab reviews data from X-rays,
MRIs, PET scans etc.
5ICON The Story So Far
6The Journey So Far
7The Journey So Far
8The Journey So Far
9The Journey So Far
10The Journey So Far
11The Journey So Far
12The Journey So Far
13The Journey So Far
14The Journey So Far
15The Journey So Far
16The Journey So Far
17The Journey So Far
18The Journey So Far
19The Journey So Far
20The Journey So Far
1990
- Revenues 0.5 million
- Staff 5
- Revenues 865m
- EPS 1.30
- Staff 6,900
21ICONs Global Footprint
68 Locations in 38 countries
22ICON Staff Growth 1990 Today
Current Dublin Staff 540
23ICON Revenue Growth 1990 2009 (E)
Current Market Cap 1,400m
Market Cap in IPO 180m
24 The Keys to Success So Far
251. Necessity was the mother offoundation
- ICP, an early Irish CRO with international
operations, went into receivership May 1990. - Assets sold to a US Competitor (Covance)
- Dr. Ronan Lambe and Dr. John Climax lost their
jobs, but had Knowledge Assets - Expertise in Commercial Clinical Research
- Good relationships in RD at some key global
Japanese Pharma companies (Abbott, Pfizer
Sankyo) - Founded ICON in June 1990
262. People Culture
- Founders had pool of experienced people to tap
into from previous employer very valuable in
early days - Tapped into the Irish Diaspora as we expanded
- Wherever possible, we transfer ICON staff to lead
new offices ensures culture/quality standards
maintained - Have built decentralised international management
team ensuring we have global perspectives - Maintaining a flat and nimble organisation
- Entrepreneurial within the confines of a heavily
regulated market - Encouraging financial accountability at small
unit levels - Corporate oversight not heavy-handed (less than
40 people)
273. Luck Timing
- ICON won contract worth over 1m within 6 months
of start-up - 1990 major company needed comparative clinical
trial v emerging competitive product. - Ireland was only market in the world where the
new drug was marketed - Impetus for globalisation of Clinical Research
coincided with ICONs formation - In 1990, EU, US and Japanese regulatory agencies
meet in Paris to form ICH - International
Conference on Harmonisation of Technical
Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals
for Human Use - Outsourcing of clinical development increasingly
embraced by the pharmaceutical industry since
early 90s - In 1997, when revenues were only 26m, won a
7-year global trial with Pfizer (for Lipitor)
worth 50m - Gave us great credibility which we leveraged
successfully
284. Embracing Globalisation
- Being Dublin-based meant domestic market focus
not an option had to be international
immediately! - ICH made globalisation inevitable
- Focused on multinational trials
- Not an early adopter but a fast follower!
- Opened offices when demand justified it and
launched services when we knew clients wanted
them - Aggressively adopted EDC (Electronic Data
Capture) technology for clinical trials in 2004
as clients and doctors finally embraced this - Opened an Indian back-office in 2005 responding
to clients cost needs - Only twice took build-it-and-they-will-come
decisions Sydney (1996) and Omaha (2009)
295. Staying Focused but Seeking to Differentiate
- Absolute focus on clinical research market
- Sought only multinational trials from very early
stage - This limited the competition from local companies
in each market - Quality as a cornerstone (ISO 9000 obtained in
1993) - We started by providing arms and legs but
gradually added intellect / knowledge - Added more technical and science resources as
market developed and clients sought scientific
input - Made acquisitions only to build scale and range
of core services - Added additional service capabilities within
clinical research - Increased therapeutic/geographic reach
306. Going Public
- We went public on NASDAQ in May 1998
- We didnt need the money!
- Gave us visibility and financial credibility with
our clients - Put us on a par with major US competitors
- Ultimately, gave us the ability to make
acquisitions and strategically build the company
31 The Keys to Success in the new business
environment
32Headwindsbut opportunities too
Risk Averse Regulators
Patent Expiries
Health Systems Ability to Pay
Economic Environment
The Advance of Science
More Data Required by FDA
Continued Growth in Outsourcing
Cost Containment
Urgency to Get New Drugs to Market
Expand Markets for Existing Drugs
Pipeline Expansion
Focus on Core Competencies
33Keys to ICONs success in the new environment
- People Culture
- In a service business this will always be key
- Flexibility Nimbleness
- As our customers adapt to their pressures, each
will want a unique solution we must be nimble
enough to respond appropriately. - Some will be only cost focused
- We must remember why we exist
- Differentiation
- Economic pressure leads to price pressure which
leads to commoditisation differentiation is a
protection - Establishing more Strategic Customer
Relationships - Scale and scientific expertise will be important
- Financial Strength
- More Luck
- You always need a little
34Questions?