Lab Talk news in brief: relocations, company purchase, new sites and remote learning
4 Aug 2025
An acquisition, a headquarters expansion, new site launches and a key pharmacovigilance course offers an online alternative...
FTSE 250-listed Diploma PLC has acquired in vitro diagnostic solutions company Alpha Laboratories.
Eastleigh-based Alpha Laboratories, a supplier to the NHS’s early diagnosis programme, played a key role in supplying home testing kits for bowel screening and supporting the Covid-19 testing programme.
Andrew Shepperd, director of Entrepreneurs Hub Ltd, which advised on the purchase, said: “Alpha Laboratories coming to market represented a rare opportunity for buyers to acquire an independent, specialist in vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical distributor with a track record of financial stability and attractive annual growth.”
The Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU) will launch a distance learning version of its pharmacovigilance postgraduate course in September.
The University of Portsmouth-accredited course, available for MSc, PgC and PgD, will be delivered by experts at the DSRU, pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies.
DRSU head of education and training Alison Evans said: “There is a growing need for qualified pharmacovigilance professionals within the pharmaceutical industry, at regulatory authorities and in academia but opportunities to access university-accredited courses is limited, especially for people overseas.
“This distance learning option will allow more people to undertake this qualification in a more inclusive and flexible way.”
Students will be able to achieve a PgC in one year or a PgD in two years. Modules include European and global pharmacovigilance requirements, risk management and monitoring safety in clinical trials, allowing students to build the course to suit their areas of expertise.
Pic: Martin Lopez
Antibodies.com, provider of biological reagents for life science researchers, is expanding its UK headquarters and moving to Cambridge Technopark.
Its new 5000 sq. ft site is five times larger than its predecessor and designed to increase access to high-quality reagents and products that support accelerated discovery and development of antibody therapeutics, said the company.
The firm added that, in the last five years, it had tripled its customer base to serve more than 5,000 research institutions globally with a catalogue in excess of 100,000 products serving researchers in more than100 countries.
Its new site features advanced laboratory spaces, a modern logistics area to facilitate enhanced inventory management, and expanded research and development capabilities.
In addition to Cambridge, the firm has facilities in Stockholm and St. Louis in the USA.
Sustainable waste solutions firm C-Source Renewables has opened a new microbiology and waste valorisation laboratory and pilot plant in Bedford.
It will increase C-Source’s operational capacity, enabling it to produce up to 80 tons of glucose annually in support of its work in the UK clean energy and sustainable bioeconomy sectors.
