It might look like something out of Harry Potter, but it is compulsory for all new products and there are fewer and fewer companies with the specialist skills needed to perform the tests
Following interest from its clients, Melbourn Scientific is extending the range of pharmacopoeial testing that it offers.
Managing director Steve Westcott says that it is easy to calculate the benefits of outsourcing pharmacopoeial testing: "Pharmacopoeial testing requires specialist skills, it is the old school chemistry that is taught at few universities because it requires expensive reagents and an investment in specialist glassware and other equipment.
"It is rarely economical for companies to retain people with these skills for the few occasions when the tests are needed.
"We have found that our analysts enjoy the challenge of pharmacopoeial, which puts their skills to the test.
"The methods are very exact and the reagents specific to a particular test makes it the equivalent of Delia Smith for the pharma world.
"The skills required to make it work are not easy to pick up and our analysts have decades of accumulated experience to call upon and it gives them an opportunity to use them".
Melbourn Scientific provides contract analytical services to the pharmaceutical industry, it is expanding its pharmacopoeial test facility and investing in the equipment and reagents required to run the full range of tests such as organic volatile impurities (OVIs), Kjeldahl nitrogen determination, sulphated ash, optical rotation and refractive index determinations.
Steve Westcott made the decision to expand the facilities in response to market demand.
"A number of clients had requested pharmacopoeial testing and we made an investment to support this.
"The natural progression was to build on this and offer a complete range of tests.
"Response from clients has been enthusiastic and the staff are keen to take on the challenge".
Melbourn Scientific says it has invested continually in the latest equipment.
The company employs about 40 analysts at its laboratories and has grown organically to provide a range of contract analytical services to the pharmaceutical industry.
