The contract research organisation (CRO) will pay $12m in cash and if certain performance milestones are achieved in 2008, a further consideration of up to $10m may be payable.

Healthcare Discoveries operates an 85 bed clinical pharmacology unit in San Antonio, Texas, and Icon's CEO Peter Gray said the new US facility will complement its existing European Phase I operations, which include an existing 80 bed clinical pharmacology unit based in Manchester, England.

The acquired business will be absorbed by Icon's Development Solutions division. Dr Thomas Frey, president of this division, said that this addition to the company will help address the "growing demand for highly scientific first-in-human and full spectrum of clinical pharmacology studies that are a critical part of the drug development process".

Only last month, Icon forayed further into Eastern Europe with the opening of three new offices there.

Prague, Czech Republic; Kiev, Ukraine; and Bucharest, Romania are the locations of the company's new facilities, which according to the firm, are located near leading teaching hospitals and national clinical research sites and provide access to investigators and patient groups.

Icon is one of a number of CROs who are spreading their roots further into this region of the world, chasing the promise that it holds.

Meanwhile, last July Icon also made a $40m purchase of Dutch-based contract staffing firm DOCS International, allowing it to expand into Europe in this field.

DOCS, which operates in eight European countries, was integrated with Icon's existing US-based staffing business, Icon Contracting Solutions, to form a global business unit, with desired effect of providing more global flexibility for its customers.