The firm has spent £4m ($5m) on the 5,800m² site – located at Brucefield Industry Park – which will offer GMP (good manufacturing practice) services to test contract microbiology and elemental impurities.
The bioanalytical testing company has also added inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IP-MS) testing equipment, and said it will invest in more high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipment to increase its capacity by 40%.
Eurofins’ Alison Clayton told us the biopharmaceutical product testing business will move from Edinburgh to the Livingstone facility, which will also house its water testing business.
“The company has specifically recruited a number of staff to ease the transition from the old site to the new, ensuring there is no break in service or impact to its high quality service provision,” said Clayton.
The facility – which will create approximately 50 jobs – will attract new customers and greater volumes of work, she added.
“The site has been purchased with expansion in mind and at the end of this year Eurofins BioPharma Product Testing UK will operate at around 50% capacity as it looks to attract new business with high volumes of work,” we were told.
The expansion is the latest in a line of M&A and site investments for the firm.
In January 2016, Eurofins bought drug quality control testing firm Sinensis Life Science, and in March the same year, announced it would buy US analytical services firm Advantar Laboratories.
In July 2016, Eurofins acquired Exova’s pharmaceutical, food and water testing business in the UK and Ireland, and three months later in October, the firm purchased ILS Pharmaceutical.
The contract research organisation (CRO) also announced in August 2016 it would add 4,400m² of laboratory space to its bioanalytical facility in Dugarvan, Ireland.