PCI adds new facility for clinical trial returns
A dedicated returns management facility at the company’s Bridgend, UK-based Clinical Services Center of Excellence has been completed.
According to the company, the new returns facility will bolster its ability to provide full-service Returns returns management service for its clients including visibility and accountability.
Kevin Williams, clinical site leader at PCI, told us “Segregation of returns materials – which is classed within the industry as ‘dirty stock’ – is required under EU guidance for clinical trials. Having a separate unit dedicated entirely to this important aspect of the trial truly defines those boundaries.”
PCI’s Bridgend site previously had a segregated area for clinical return materials within one of the current units, but with this new facility, there will now be true segregation of used clinical materials.
Bridgend is one of PCI’s eight global facilities supporting medications distributed to more than 100 countries. The dedicated facility will be a separate place to manage the returns apart from the other facilities, which are used for logistics, packaging, and other investigational medicinal product support.
“The new returns unit is located within 20 meters of, and just opposite to, PCI’s new 37,500 square foot controlled ambient (15-25°C) facility, offering long-term storage of clinical trial materials through to study closedown and destruction. Within the unit, there will be over 400 pallet locations of storage along with a reconciliation room for handling and managing returns,” said Williams.
The facility follows other investments at the Bridgend location including a 37,500 square foot building expansion that opened in January 2018. Williams said the returns unit is the latest installation in a series of developments at the site.
The Bridgend site has further land options, according to Williams, for the next phase of development.
PCI has continued to expand geographically through acquisitions. The company now has sites in Australia, Ireland, and a US location in San Diego, California.
