Icon boosts biorepository capabilities to meet personalised med demands

The expansion – at the central lab in Farmingdale – means the Irish contract research organisation (CRO) can now perform end-to-end biospecimen management services across a drug’s entire lifecycle.

The facility can also store specimens such as plasma, serum, whole blood, RNA, DNA, peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC), urine and tissue at frozen storage conditions and liquid nitrogen.

An increase in personalised medicine development was listed as a major reason for the investment.

Tom O’Leary, president of the central laboratories said: “We believe that long-term preservation of samples is essential for the future of drug development, in particular for personalised medicine strategies that foresee an ever-increasing need for downstream analysis.​

“The co-location of our biorepository services with our central labs in North America, Europe, Singapore and India is critical, as it allows for future analysis while minimising the risks and costs associated with transporting samples.“​