The Wasdell Group has unveiled plans to invest £500,000 in a new laboratory at its Newcastle, UK site.

The purpose built 1,200 sq. ft facility will allow Wasdell to offer in-house microbiological and analytical services to its customers and will support the business’ manufacturing, packaging and quality control (QC) teams.

The investment into its laboratory capabilities was driven by the company’s growing customer base at its manufacturing facility in Newcastle, as well as an increase in the number of pre-clinical development projects that have recently been awarded to Wasdell.

“This latest investment is part of a client-centric strategy that ensures we continue to offer existing and new clients a fast and efficient service that meets their end-to-end supply needs,” said Daniel Tedham, managing director, Wasdell. “We’ve seen a notable increase in demand for analytical support from our existing clients and the investment in our microbiological capabilities has been driven by our planned move into the manufacture of sterile products later this year.”

A microbiological laboratory team will deliver in-house environmental monitoring, sample analysis, water testing, microbiological identification analysis, component testing and growth promotion testing.

The lab will also offer analytical capabilities for chemical, physical and microbiological analysis including HPLC, FTIR and wet chemistry with QC testing of raw materials, drug substances (currently Schedule III with capacity to cater for Schedule II products) and drug products in accordance with pharmacopoeial monographs and client methods.

“The new lab opens the door for further investment in the Newcastle facility, expansion of our on-site QC capabilities and future opportunities for growth to meet our client requirements,” said Mr. Tedham.

The investment is the first phase of the company’s ongoing expansion strategy to bolster its laboratory capabilities and ensure seamless internal operations. The second phase will include the opening of a new laboratory facility in Ireland to futureproof Wasdell’s release testing offering for the European market in the event of a hard Brexit.

The facility is the latest addition to the company’s manufacturing site in Newcastle. The 26,000 sq. ft facility is MHRA approved for pharmaceutical manufacturing and has a Home Office Controlled Drugs license with on-site storage facilities.

It follows the recent announcement of the company’s new €30 million pharmaceutical facility in Dundalk, Ireland, which will offer QC import testing, a variety of current and novel packaging technologies as well as storage and distribution.