FORM 6-K


SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Washington, D.C. 20549


Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 under
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934


For the month ended August, 2011


ICON plc
(Registrant's name)


0-29714
(Commission file number)


South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland
(Address of principal executive offices)

Ciaran Murray, CFO
South County Business Park Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland.
Ciaran.Murray@iconplc.com
0011-353-1-291-2000
(Name, telephone number, email and/or facsmile number and address of Company contact person)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

              Yes___X___                                   No_______

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):

              Yes______                                    No___X___

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):

              Yes______                                    No___X___

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

              Yes_______                                   No___X___

If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b):82      N/A

EXHIBIT LIST

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Exhibit 99.1

ICON Selected as a Preferred Provider for Early Phase Clinical Development by Bristol-Myers Squibb

Agreement Builds on Existing Strategic Partnership for Global Clinical Development

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 30, 2011--ICON plc, (NASDAQ:ICLR) (ISIN:IE0005711209), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today announced that it has been chosen by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) as a preferred provider for full-service clinical pharmacology and exploratory clinical studies. This latest agreement with Bristol-Myers-Squibb follows the company’s selection of ICON to provide global support for Bristol-Myers-Squibb’s clinical development pipeline, which was announced in June 2010.

Under the preferred provider agreement for early phase development, ICON will provide a broad range of clinical pharmacology and exploratory clinical trial services including study conduct in ICON's Clinical Pharmacology Units, located in San Antonio, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Manchester, UK. ICON will also provide all supporting scientific services such as protocol design and development, project management, clinical monitoring, medical monitoring / pharmacovigilence, data management, biostatistics, pharmacokinetics and medical writing.

“We are pleased that Bristol-Myers-Squibb has again chosen ICON to bring greater operational efficiencies and high quality science to their drug development programs,” commented Dr. Mario Rocci, President, ICON Development Solutions. “Both companies already have a very successful global partnership for phase II-IV clinical development and central laboratory services and we look forward to demonstrating the same value and efficiencies to Bristol-Myers-Squibb’s early phase clinical programs. Our global network of clinical research units, scientists and project teams, underpinned by world class technology, will drive significant cost savings and productivity.”

About ICON plc
ICON plc is a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. 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. ICON currently has approximately 7,800 employees, operating from 77 locations in 39 countries.

Further information is available at www.iconplc.com

DISCLOSURE NOTICE: The information contained in this release is as of August 29, 2011. ICON assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events or developments.

This release contains forward-looking information about ICON’s strategic partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, including the potential benefits of the partnership on ICON’s future financial results and condition that involves substantial risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the risk that the partnership results in more limited provision of services by ICON than expected, that those services do not have the expected financial impact on ICON or that the partnership is terminated.

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in ICON’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and in its Reports of Foreign Issuer on Form 6-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

ICON/ICLR-G

CONTACT:
ICON plc
Sam Farthing
VP Investor Relations
+ 353-1-291-2000
or
Weber Shandwick
Rosie Allan
+44 (0)20 7067 0190