Expansion in China follows continued sponsor interest in the country and wider Asia Pacific region. To establish the scale sponsors want Icon has opened a small Shanghai office, which will employ up to 15 people, and is looking to expand into new regions.

“The next location will be Guangdong”, Alan Morgan, president, global clinical research services at Icon, told Outsourcing-Pharma. Icon is particularly interested in Guangdong because of the concentration of Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) approved trial sites in the area.

Expansion in Beijing is also planned. Icon already has a presence in Beijing but is looking to relocate to a larger site. In-house operations are supported by Icon's China-based partner Tigermed, which has its headquarters in Shanghai. Having Tigermed nearby allows Icon to, for now, operate a relatively small office in Shanghai.

China's artificial market

Although Icon and others are investing in China the country is yet to realise its potential. “China is important but regulatory lead times mean that it's limited in its role in global clinical trials”, said Morgan. Consequently, “there's an artificial market in China at this time”, with CROs investing in anticipation of it truly taking off.

The market in other countries in Asia Pacific is more mature. South Korea is now a “very, very strong” market for Icon, driven, in part, by changes to Japanese regulations that free up companies to recruit patients from overseas.

In response to the change Japanese companies want to outsource trials to China, Taiwan and South Korea and Icon has benefited. Gains made by Icon come at the expense of local Japan-focused CROs and the market for these companies is now under threat, said Morgan.

Local talent

To support expansion of operations in the region Icon has appointed Malcom Burgess as executive vice president (EVP), Asia Pacific. Burgess has moved to China to take the position but it is rare for Icon to relocate its Western staff to Asia Pacific.

Employees at the Shanghai and Beijing offices mainly come from China and Taiwan. However, hiring experienced, senior-level staff in China is a challenge and as such Icon chose to relocate Burgess. Recruiting experienced staff in South East Asian countries, such as Vietnam, is another challenging area.

In India retaining staff is difficult. As in all countries, competitive salaries, career development opportunities and special measures help retain staff. Also, retention is easier in areas where fewer competitors have operations.