Companies point to changes in regulation that are prompting more development activities.

Icon and Acronet will work together to offer clients a range of clinical development capabilities to manage trials on a regional or global basis. The Japanese firms say that the agreement was established because of the rising need from their clients in the country and outside for clinical trial management services.

“Recent changes in the regulatory landscape mean that an increasing number of Japanese-based pharmaceutical companies are looking to run development projects on both a domestic and pan-regional basis,” says Alan Morgan, Icon’s group president, clinical research services.

“The number of global clinical trials involving the triad regions of U.S., EU, and Japan has increased gradually in recent years and this trend will continue to accelerate,” notes Shogo Nakamori, Acronet’s president and CEO. “This is one of the challenging areas for the Japanese pharmaceutical industry, and Acronet is now ready to contribute and support the above challenging areas through this alliance with Icon.”

With headquarters in Tokyo and additional offices in Osaka, Fukuoka, and New York, Acronet employs around 500 clinical development professionals. Icon has been operational in Japan since 1995 and offers a variety of clinical development services and contract staffing from its offices in Tokyo and Osaka.

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