ICON, the international contract research organisation (CRO) based in Ireland, has beefed up its bioanalytical and immunoassay capabilities by acquiring Veeda Laboratories Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
A UK-based subsidiary of Anglo-Asian CRO Veeda Clinical Research Group, Veeda Laboratories provides biomarker laboratory services to global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It operates out of a purpose-built facility opened on the Oxford Science Park in May 2007.
The acquisition will complement ICON Development Solutions’ existing bioanalytical and immunoassay offering, delivered through its UK laboratory in Manchester and through Prevalere Life Sciences, the US-based bioanalytical and immunoassay laboratory acquired by ICON in November 2008.
Noting that biomarkers of disease play an “ever increasing” role in drug discovery and development, Thomas Frey, president of ICON Development Solutions, said Veeda Laboratories had a “very strong” reputation for biomarker development and well-established relationships with top-tier pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
According to John Allinson, head of Veeda Laboratories in Oxford, the deal will “enable us to enhance and expand our biomarker, pharmacokinetic and immunogenicity services and to offer our clients a broader suite of drug development services”.
