update

SGS adds bioassays capabilities to its Poitiers facility

07-Sep-2011 - Last updated on 08-Sep-2011 at 13:59 GMT

SGS Life Sciences has added cell-based bioassays to the range of services available at its Poitiers, France, facility in what it says is part of its new aggressive growth strategy.

As part of the expansion, the firm has added the latest generation of flow cytometers and a BL-2 (Biolsafety Level 2) suite, as well as recruiting a senior study director, who remains unnamed.

The Geneva -headquartered inspection, verification, testing and certification services specialists also plan to increase its personnel team in a bid to meet customer demands.

And according to Ferdinand Dabu, marketing director of life sciences services at SGS, the expansion is one of many to come.

He told Outsourcing-Pharma: “There are very aggressive plans in SGS to grow our business by 2014.

“With such aggressive plans in place, this expansion is not a stand alone effort. There is a global plan. We are going to need people in all regions for all of the business."

Dabu also said that Geneva HR team are currently putting together a hiring strategy, and so the company is still unsure how many new employees there will be.

He added: “We have hired the study director for our project in Poitiers, and we’re going to hire international personnel throughout the year.”

Dream big

The laboratory in Poitiers in now one of two GLP-compliant bioanalytical facilities in Europe owned by SGS, allowing them to offer services in support in method development and validation, pharmacokinetics by LC-MS/MS and immunoassays, biomarker analysis, immunogenicity testing and now cell-based bioassays.

And the firm hopes its offering will appeal to Big Pharma.

Dabu added: “One of the key things is that we want to capitalize on this opportunity largely driven by large pharmaceutical companies.

“We recently announced that we extended our biopharma capabilities with the acquisition of M-Scan, which offers chemical and biochemical testing as well as high-end GLP/GMP contract analytical services.

“This is our European center of excellence and with this expansion we have the opportunity of producing bioassays here before expanding in other regions.”