Dublin-based ICON Clinical has established a new business unit called its lifecycle sciences group, focusing specifically on outcomes research and economic analysis services. The news was announced during the Drug Information Association (DIA) 43rd Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The group will work with stakeholders across the client organization in area such as clinical development, but also with sales and marketing, medical affairs and strategic development groups—units where most contract research organizations (CROs) have less interaction with.

The core of the group will be Illinois-based Ovation, which ICON acquired in July 2006. The company, now a part of ICON’s clinical research division, conducts prospective pharmacoeconomic and quality-of-life analysis, disease and product registries, and health outcomes research.

Originally dubbed Ovation Healthcare Research, the company was founded in 1990. Ovation’s founder and former president Jeff Trotter, has been promoted to senior vice president of ICON's new lifecycle sciences group.

“This time last year, [Ovation] became pretty much the corner stone of ICON’s late stage business, but one of the things that we’ve done in evolving to this lifecycle sciences group is help everyone recognize that what we do isn’t just in the post approval realm. A lot of what we do starts as early as phase II up to through approval and beyond. That is kind of where the concept of lifecycle sciences came from,” said Trotter.