In a wider industry dominated by huge multinationals with household names, the story of Irish-based drug research company Icon will have gone unnoticed by many.
Headquartered in Leopardstown in south county Dublin, it employs over 40,000 people around the world – around 1,000 of them in Ireland – and is listed on the Nasdaq in the US. Outsourcing clinical development, it services the hugely important pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device sectors.
Until recently, all had seemed well at the Ciaran Murray chaired company which was first founded in Dublin in 1990. However, recent months have brought a cresting wave of bad news – and its share price has taken a pummeling.
Last week, Icon withdrew its financial guidance for 2025 – and said its results for the fourth quarter would be two months late. It is investigating how it accounted for revenues in 2023 and 2024, saying it may have over-stated earnings by 2 per cent.
As investors digested news of the investigation, Icon’s stock fell precipitously – losing almost $8 billion in market capitalisation.
The problematic start to 2026 follows an eventful 2025.
In February of last year, Icon said it would “vigorously” defend a US lawsuit that stated company insiders had “motive and opportunity to defraud investors” when they sold almost $78 million worth of shares over a 15-month period.
Shareholder Chang Kwok Shing alleged that the stock had been sold at an “artificially high price” before slumping in value when Icon published its financial results the previous October.
The statement of claims from the case said the insiders included then group chief executive Stephen Cutler, who sold about $17 mi
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