ICON falls as COVID vaccine study paused by US funding agency

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12/08/2025 23:03

** Shares of contract research firm ICON ICLR.O fall 3.9% to $162.53 in extended trading

** ICON says that a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine study, it was running, has been paused

** U.S. agency BARDA issued a stop-work notice to the study sponsor

** The sponsor has instructed ICON to cease all screening and dosing activities for new participants

** About half of the planned 10,000 participants have received the vaccine and will continue to be monitored; sponsor is still in talks with BARDA on next steps - ICON

** "Government-sponsored vaccine trials are in a historically-high state of flux, and ICLR happens to be the negative beneficiary" - Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny

** ICON says the pause will impact 2025 revenue, but full-year guidance is unchanged

** ICON stock down 19.4% YTD

 (Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan)

 ((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com))