Icon, a medical outsourcing provider headquartered in Dublin, will create 200 new jobs as part of a plan to develop a new global innovation hub in Ireland,

The company, which operates 76 offices in 37 countries and employs 10,300 people worldwide, says the hub which will work to advance the development of new technologies and clinical trial processes enabling faster access to large volumes of clinical data and better insights from the data.

The new jobs will be divided between Dublin and Limerick and include roles in IT, data analytics, clinical science, project management, finance and human resources, the Irish Times reports.

Irish prime minister Enda Kenny announced the project, which has been partly-funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland. Kenny also unveiled the latest installment of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs.

Said Icon chief executive Ciaran Murray: “Since our foundation in Dublin in 1990, Icon has grown to become a global leader in clinical research, employing 11,000 highly-skilled professionals in 40 countries. We have successfully built relationships with all of the world’s top biopharma companies and have been at the forefront of innovation in the design and conduct of global clinical trials.”

“As innovation plays an increasingly important role in improving the outcomes of clinical trials, we are excited to reinforce our commitment to that goal by locating our global innovation hub in Ireland, one of the leading R&D and innovation centers in the world,” he added.