It has been announced that Quintiles Transnational Corp. will be opening an expanded regional site in attempt to heighten service offering across Europe. The site will be situated near Edinburgh, Scotland and will comprise 3 purpose-built developments combined into one state-of-the-art complex.
Situated near to Edinburgh inside the Alba Campus, stretching 10,350 square meters, the development will be able to facilitate Five Hundred staff memebers and will also serve other departments including Data Management, Regulatory Affairs and Project Management. The development will be BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) certified for sustainable design, ensuring minimal environmental impact.
The main attraction of the new site will be an 80,000 square ft centralised laboratory almost twice its previous capacity which will increase throughput of clinical trial samples and enable the ability to process almost 3 times more kits per day. It has been strategically situated to supply the whole European region where on-site laboratory services include urinalysis, serology markers, coagulation, hematology, specimen management, endocrinology, chemistry and biomarkers.
The facility includes Quintiles’ three Assay Development Labs for the purpose of capitalising on scientific advances. This specialises on the technical transfer of methods and assays, including verification of assays clinical instruments and research assays.
Quintiles, including a number of other UK based clinical research organisations; offer some of the world’s largest central laboratory networks, with sites in Brazil, India, Japan, South Africa, the USA, Singapore and China.
By supplying key laboratory functions on a number of continents, these CROs are able to minimise transport costs, including concerns relating to import/export permits, whilst providing local investigator site support and at the same time improving sample stability.
RPL, another well-known CRO or Institute of Clinical Pharmacology based in the UK (clinical trial provider) who offers specialist services like CRF Design, also boasts in-house laboratories, with sites located at two acute London-based teaching hospitals, namely Mayday University Hospital and St George’s University of London. These laboratories are operated 24 hours a day by fully trained staff and are readily available to for immediate sample processing needs. Its labs comprise of refrigerated centrifuges for processing samples; refrigerators as well as -20°C and -80°C freezers for sample storage, of which are linked to an alarm system where temperatures are constantly monitored. Labs also comprise state-of-the-art, fully automated Drugs of Abuse, (DOA), analysers, supplying fast and accurate DOA results.
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