SGS Announces New French Facility to Increase Quality Control Service

SGS Life Science Services has announced further investment in the French market, with a new facility in Villeneuve la Garenne. The new location, which will replace an existing laboratory in Clichy, is approximately 5km away, and complements SGS Life Science Services’ strategy to increase its Quality Control service throughput and support an ever-expanding research and development pipeline of new biopharmaceutical drugs within the country.

The 2000 m2 site is split over two floors, each dedicated to a specific function, to increase efficiency. The services currently offered at Clichy, including analytical chemistry, microbiological analysis, stability studies and method development services, will be transferred to the new site, along with additional services for biopharmaceutical analysis, including amino acid analysis and mycoplasma testing. Investment will also be made to increase the number of contained hoods to safely handle biological entities, as well as walk-in stability testing chambers for small molecules.

The site will be accredited to comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations, as is the current facility at Clichy. “This investment is a significant step for SGS and its positioning within France, one of the three largest bio/pharmaceutical markets in Europe,” commented Paul Beyou, Director of Life Science Services, Clichy, “We see the site as being an important strategic tool to keep in step with the small molecule quality control market and begin to address the biologics pipeline within the country, underlining SGS’s ability to evolve along with the needs of our customers.”

The investment comes after SGS previously announced increased analytical capabilities at its facility in Poitiers, France, earlier this year, and follows on from the recent announcement of the expansion of the SGS facility in Shanghai, China.

With 21 laboratories offering contract analytical and bioanalytical services, SGS leverages its wholly-owned global network, present in North America, Europe, and Asia, to deliver harmonized solutions to large pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms.

In addition to testing services for the bio/pharmaceutical market, SGS also provides clinical trial management (Phase I to IV) and services encompassing data management and statistics, PK/PD modeling and simulation, pharmacovigilance and regulatory consultancy.