Bioanalytical testing company Eurofins Scientific plans to establish a new pharmaceutical chemistry and microbiology facility in Livingston, Scotland as part of a £4m investment.
Significantly increasing its capacity in the UK, the 5,800m2 facility at Brucefield Industry Park will house Eurofins’ Biopharmaceutical Testing business in the UK, currently based in Edinburgh. The first phase of the project will see the development of 1,400m2 of lab space.
This development follows Eurofins’ July 2016, acquisition of Exova’s pharmaceutical, food and water testing business in the UK and Ireland, in addition to the subsequent purchase of ILS’s pharmaceutical business in October.
Alison Clayton, General Manager at Eurofins BioPharma Product Testing, said:
“From the new facility, we will provide a range of GMP pharmaceutical testing services, including method development and validation, finished product and raw material testing, elemental impurity testing, micro testing and stability studies.”
As part of the investment, Eurofins will be purchasing a new inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) machine. Eurofins will also invest in more high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipment, increasing its capacity by 40%.
Clayton continued: “We have seen greater demand for more quantitative methods of elemental analysis, such as the use of ICP-MS technology. This follows the introduction of the International Conference on Harmonization Q3D Guideline for Elemental Impurities, relating to existing drug products in the US and Europe.”
“From the 1st January 2018, these regulations will apply to both new and existing drug products, so by investing now, we are preparing for future demand and market requirements,” Clayton said.
