On the heels of the acquisition of Quality Compliance Laboratories Inc. (QCL) in December 2015, SGS’s global network now offers chemistry and microbiology testing services for cosmeceuticals, natural health products and medical marijuana from facilities in Canada.

The acquisition of QCL has seen the incorporation of all 65 employees at its two Canadian sites into SGS’s global network of laboratories. The facilities, in Montreal and Markham, Toronto, have a combined laboratory space of over 10,000 sq. ft., and investment has already been made to equip the Markham site with new walk-in stability chambers.

The facilities are GMP compliant and are licensed/registered with, and inspected by, both Health Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA). The services offered complement SGS’s existing life science portfolio by providing local testing services within Quebec, while expanding markets served to include nutraceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics and veterinary products.

New capabilities within the two facilities include ICP-MS/ICP-OES for elemental impurities analysis, fully automated tablet dissolution apparatuses, flow-through USP dissolution apparatus (USP #4), and Vitek for bacterial identification. Alongside the company’s existing facility in Mississauga, SGS can now offer a comprehensive service provision of analytical testing for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products, raw materials and packaging, and medical devices capacity throughout Canada.

“This acquisition will have a positive impact for our customers as we can now offer increased flexibility and capacity when and where clients need support,” said Michael Lindsay, vice president life sciences unit, SGS Canada. “SGS continues to increase its service capacity and offering for clients to ensure that we can meet future market and regulatory needs