News Release

Social media and news aggregation site will highlight real-time digital conversations at DIA 2019

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 24, 2019-- ICON plc, (NASDAQ: ICLR) a global provider of drug and device development and commercialisation services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it will present DIA Live – a social media aggregation site that allows visitors to track and analyse Twitter conversations from delegates at the DIA Global Annual Meeting (23 - 27 June, San Diego, CA).

DIA has provided a global, yet neutral, stage for collaboration to address healthcare challenges for more than 50 years. In 2019, DIA will host thousands of professionals in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device communities from more than 50 countries around the globe and 400+ exhibiting companies.

This is the fourth year that ICON and DIA have collaborated to present DIA Live. Developed by ICON, DIA Live combines powerful AI analysis and data visualisation features of news and social media conversations to provide a unique digital forum to connect pharma leaders globally. DIA Live will provide a single source for visitors to view the social media conversations from conference participants, alongside relevant industry news stories as well as broader conversations from Twitter users around the world using the hashtag #DIA2019. DIA Live will launch on the 23 June and will aggregate and stream a live feed of tweets sent by conference delegates as well as other industry participants.

DIA Live features include:

• Big Data Aggregation: DIA LIVE aggregates up to 50M websites and blogs, as well as up to 500M social media posts, per day to deliver key media news stories related to the conference themes. DIA Live simultaneously distils and presents trending topics from conference participants on Twitter, to present the most relevant posts and articles for each of the twelve conference themes.

• AI Analysis: DIA Live incorporates powerful behind-the-scenes AI data analysis capabilities including natural language processing (NLP), entities extraction, article classification and contextual social scoring/ranking of contributors and articles. These capabilities enable simple, easy-to-use data exploration and visualisation features for site visitors.

• Interactive Data Visualisations: DIA Live provides a real-time view of trending topics, breaking news stories and expert commentary from the conference as well as an interactive timeline that presents activity volumes, key highlights and the ability to review conversations from prior days as the conference progresses.

• Personal Curation and social sharing: Site visitors can use the interactive data visualisations and tools to drill down to what they are interested in, and share unique insights and data visuals with their audiences. Bloggers and media publishers can embed dynamic data visualisations and streams which can be either static or updated in real time.

• Scale To Any Screen Size: DIA Live has a standard mobile responsive design to adjust to screen sizes from smartphone to tablet to desktop computer, it also features a special large screen format – perfect for displaying on TVs (available at www.dialive.org/largescreen).

David Green, VP Marketing, ICON said “We are pleased to continue to work with DIA to facilitate important conversations on a variety of important topics, including disruptive innovation, special patient populations and value and market access, between industry professionals at DIA 2019. DIA Live combines powerful, best in class data analysis and visualisation features to provide a unique digital platform on which the world’s largest gathering of life sciences professionals can connect, collaborate and converse. This year we are pleased to incorporate new media functionality to the platform, helping delegates keep up to date with key conference themes while providing context, enabling users to understand what the world is saying.”

“The conversations at DIA 2019 will cover the most pressing issues facing the life sciences industry today,” said Sudip Parikh, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DIA Americas. “DIA Live will highlight real-time digital conversations at DIA 2019 and provide valuable insight into how biopharma industry professionals, regulators, and patients from around the world collaborate to address challenges facing the development of therapeutics for patients. Platforms like DIA Live enable these conversations to take place inside and outside the San Diego convention center.”

To join the DIA 2019 conversation, follow and engage with our team via www.dialive.org

About DIA

DIA (founded as the Drug Information Association) is a global association that mobilizes life sciences professionals from across all areas of expertise to engage with patients, peers, and thought leaders in a neutral environment on the issues of today and the possibilities for tomorrow. As a member-driven, volunteer organization, professionals from more than 80 countries have affected healthcare outcomes, by engaging with DIA through an unparalleled network, educational offerings, and professional development opportunities.

DIA is based in Washington, DC (US) with regional offices representing the Americas (Horsham, PA, US); Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, (Basel, Switzerland); and Asia (Beijing and Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; and Tokyo, Japan).

For more information, visit DIAglobal.org or connect with DIA on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

About ICON plc

ICON plc is a global provider of drug and device development and commercialisation services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government and public health organisations. The company specialises in the strategic development, management and analysis of programs that support clinical development - from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. With headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, ICON currently, operates from 90 locations in 37 countries and has approximately 14,000 employees.

Further information is available at www.iconplc.com.

ICON/ICLR-G

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and information currently available, including current economic and industry conditions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actual results, and actual results, developments and business decisions may differ from those stated in this press release. The forward-looking statements are subject to future events, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the statements, including, but not limited to, the ability to enter into new contracts, maintain client relationships, manage the opening of new offices and offering of new services, the integration of new business mergers and acquisitions, as well as economic and global market conditions and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in SEC reports filed by ICON, all of which are difficult to predict and some of which are beyond our control. For these reasons, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements when making investment decisions. The word "expected" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about the risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements may be found in SEC reports filed by ICON, including its Form 20-F, F-1, S-8 and F-3, which are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190624005148/en/

Source: ICON plc

ICON Media Contact
Mita Dhullipala
Weber Shandwick
+44 (0)7989874986
mdhullipala@webershandwick.com