01 May 2019

(Cambridge, UK) Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, is pleased to announce the expansion of its pharmaceutical services laboratory in Melbourn, near Cambridge, through the acquisition of a new 20,000 sq. ft facility, which will double the footprint of the existing laboratory.

The current facility provides pharmaceutical analysis and formulation development services, with specialist expertise in orally inhaled and nasal drug products. The new facility is currently being developed and is expected to open towards the end of 2019, providing capacity for over an 100 additional employees to be recruited over the next four years. It is located adjacent to Intertek’s current Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) laboratory and will expand the inhalation and nasal testing resources. The facility will also provide a dedicated laboratory space focused on formulation development of inhaled biologics to meet increasing demand from clients globally.

In particular, inhaled biologics present an attractive route for the administration of various classes of large molecule for the treatment of respiratory diseases, enabling local, targeted delivery to the lung, potentially opening up new treatment pathways for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, asthma and lung cancer. Delivery direct to the lung is likely not only to be more efficacious, but also to require less of the active ingredient compared with other routes of delivery. Systemic delivery of biologics is also possible via the lungs or the nose. Drug delivery via these routes is more convenient and less painful compared with other routes of administration for biologic drugs, which are generally administered intravenously.

The existing facility in Melbourn has delivered contract analytical, formulation development and clinical manufacturing services from its location in the heartland of the UK's pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry for nearly 30 years.

Intertek UK & Eire Chief Executive Rob van Dorp said: “We are delighted to expand and invest in inhalation and nasal product testing for biologics and pharmaceuticals at our Melbourn site, as global demand grows for specialists contract laboratory services. This latest expansion brings increased capacity and flexibility and will help to deliver a superior customer service for our clients around the world. Integrated with the teams’ outstanding expertise in analytical and formulation support for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and drug delivery industries, we can effectively help our clients to meet milestones for their challenging pharmaceutical development programmes through our systemic, end-to-end Total Quality Assurance solutions.”

Intertek’s pharmaceutical services locations also include Manchester (UK), Basel (Switzerland), San Diego (California, USA), Whitehouse, (New Jersey, USA) and Melbourne, (Australia).

Learn more:

For Media Information

Please contact:
Lorna Kettle
Marketing Manager - UK Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
Tel: +44 161 721 1476
Email: lorna.kettle@intertek.com

About Intertek

TOTAL QUALITY. ASSURED. 

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 44,000 people in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers’ operations and supply chains. Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely. 

intertek.com