SGS has acquired aster.cephac, a full service provider of early clinical pharmacology trials and bioanalytical drug development services headquartered in Paris, France. With its 82-bed, newly refurbished state-of-the-art clinic, aster.cephac is one of the largest intensive care facilities in the world with access to a large volunteer base in Europe. Also, the company has recently invested in a modern and GMP-conforming pharmacy. Its facilities are in full compliance with the recent EU Directive.

SGS Life Science Services now offers three clinical research units (two in Belgium, one in France) with a capacity of 172 beds and conducts more than 100 Phase I trials a year. Aster.cephac’s bioanalytical research center located in Poitiers is a large independent bioanalytical unit in Europe and a leader in mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) services and immunoanalysis.

With this acquisition, SGS now offers a capacity of four labs (France, Belgium, Thailand, India) with a technical platform of 28 recent generation LC-MS/MS machines and a portfolio of about 700 methods. The acquisition is part of SGS's strategic growth plan establishing a presence for clinical research services in one of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical markets.