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.

The 115,000 square foot research and development center will be situated within the Alba Campus near Edinburgh and will have a capacity for up to 500 staff, covering departments associated with Quintiles’ Clinical Development Services, such as Project Management, Data Management and Regulatory Affairs. The site shall be BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) certified for sustainable design and 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.

In order to capitalise on scientific advances, the site comprises of one of Quintiles’ three Assay Development Laboratories, specifically focused on technical transfer of methods and assays, as well as validation of industry-specific instruments and assays for research.

Quintiles, along with other clinical research organisations based in the United Kingdom, boast vast centralised lab networks with bases in India, China, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

These CROs supply key laboratory services to a number of continents and in doing so, are able to lower transportation costs, minimising worries about import/export permits and providing local study assessment support, in turn boosting 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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