PRA Health Sciences’ clinical business saw a surge in demand in the second quarter according to Icon, which highlighted its new acquisition as a major growth driver.
Dublin, Ireland-based Icon spoke about PRA – which it acquired for $12 billion at the beginning of July – during its second quarter results, explaining the US contract research organization (CRO) saw revenue of $1.05 billion, a year on year increase of 43.5%.
PRA also attracted more customers in the period according to Icon, which said its clinical research segment recorded net new business worth $1.2 billion in the period, representing a net book-to-bill of 1.21.
Icon CEO Steve Cutler cited COVID-19 related studies as a major driver for both CROs, telling analysts he was “delighted to see strong PRA business wins for the quarter of nearly $1.2 billion and a net book-to-bill of 1.21.
“This helps build momentum for the rest of the year and beyond, and demonstrates our customers' confidence in the new Icon’s continued operational performance and our commitment to delivering hard and innovative patient-centric solutions.”
COVID-19
Cutler also said demand for COVID-19 related trials helped both CROs in the first half of the year.
“The environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the industry with an opportunity to accelerate changes in the clinical monitoring process. The need for a more flexible and efficient approach to clinical monitoring and data review has emerged, and this demand will fundamentally change the way in which trials are conducted going forward.
“A key milestone for ICON was the manner in which we help deliver the first COVID vaccine to the market in record time, applying this agile and flexible framework to our clinical monitoring model. Our ability to execute these large-scale projects has resulted in a very healthy level of business wins in this area.”
PRA saw a similar impact Cutler said.
“During the first half of this year, both Icon and PRA both saw the influence of these vaccine trials on our revenue, with a higher proportion of pass-throughs relative to non-COVID work.
“As we progress through the remainder of the year, we expect our pass-through mix to begin to return to a more normalized level.”
Guidance
The business wins prompted Icon to increase its earnings forecast.
Cutler said “As a result of this acquisition we are updating our 2021 outlook with revenue guidance in the range of $5,300 - $5,500 million and adjusted earnings per share guidance in the range of $9.10 - $9.50.”
Image: iStock/Mateusz-Atroszko