Quintiles opens Scottish central lab
pharmafile | September 28, 2009 | News story | Research and Development | Quintiles, Scotland
Quintiles has opened new facilities near Edinburgh, Scotland, that more than double its ability to provide central laboratory services to clinical trial sponsors in Europe.
The contract research organisation built the 115,000 sq. ft. unit at the Alba Campus in Livingston for around £7.5 million (8 million euros) to house more than 500 of its employees. Work on the unit started in 2007, and the project was supported with a £1.25 million Regional Selective Assistance Grant.
Quintiles said the focal point of the new facility is an 80,000 sq. ft. central laboratory that “allows higher throughput of clinical trial materials, including the ability to process up to three times more kits per day”.
The CRO claims to have the largest College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited central laboratory network in the world. Along with the new Scottish unit, Quintiles operates central laboratory sites in Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Africa, the US, and Singapore. The latter will relocate to a new facility later this year.
Having central labs on five continents, helps Quintiles decrease transportation costs, reduces concerns about import/export permits, provides local investigator site support and enhances sample stability.
The Scottish lab’s services include chemistry, haematology, urinalysis, serology markers, coagulation, specimen management, endocrinology and biomarkers.
The Livingston facility also houses one of Quintiles’ three assay development labs, specialising in technical transfer of methods and assays, and validation of commercial instruments and assays for research.
Central laboratory services are a fast-growing sector, driven both by the increasing size and complexity of clinical trials and the fact that few drugmakers have this capability in-house.
Quintiles is one of the top companies providing these services, along with the likes of Covance, PPD, and MDS Pharma Services, and it has been investing in capacity around the world in the last couple of years.
The CRO boosted its position in the Japanese market last year via an agreement with Medca, recently set up labs in China and India and has also been expanding its US facilities in Durham, North Carolina.
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