The Wasdell Group, an outsourcing company within the pharmaceutical, medical device, and clinical trials industries, is investing £500,000 ($670,000) in a new laboratory at its Newcastle site. The new 1,200-sq-ft lab will offer in-house microbiological and analytical services and will support the company’s manufacturing, packaging, and quality control teams.
The investment is the first phase of the company’s expansion strategy to bolster its laboratory capabilities. The second phase will include the opening of a new laboratory facility in Ireland to “future-proof” Wasdell’s release testing offering for the European market in the event of a hard Brexit.
The move follows the recent announcement of the company’s new €30 million ($35 million) pharmaceutical facility in Dundalk, Ireland, which will offer quality control import testing, a variety of current and new packaging technologies, as well as storage and distribution.
The Newcastle lab investment was driven by business growth and pre-clinical development projects at its manufacturing facility in Newcastle, according to the company.
(Credit: Wasdell Group)
“We’ve seen a notable increase in demand for analytical support from our existing clients and the investment in our microbiological capabilities has been driven by our planned move into the manufacture of sterile products later this year,” Daniel Tedham, managing director at Wasdell, said.
A microbiological laboratory team will deliver in-house environmental monitoring, sample analysis, water testing, microbiological identification analysis, component testing, and growth promotion testing.
The lab also will offer analytical capabilities for chemical, physical, and microbiological analysis including HPLC, FTIR, and wet chemistry with quality control testing of raw materials, drug substances (currently Schedule III with capacity to cater for Schedule II products), and drug products in accordance with pharmacopoeial monographs and client methods.
The 26,000-sq-ft Newcastle facility is approved by the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for pharmaceutical manufacturing and has a Home Office Controlled Drugs license with on-site storage facilities.
The Wasdell Group, established in 1971, provides a range of technical, manufacturing, packaging, storage, and distribution services for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.
(Source and Image Credit: Wasdell Group)
