Almac Group Further Expands Global Biologics Testing Solutions

£0.5M investment in mass spectrometry support accelerates biologics development and approval  

Craigavon, Northern Ireland – 26 January 2021 – Almac Sciences, a member of the Almac Group, has announced additional  expansion of its biologics testing laboratory with significant investment in mass spectrometry equipment.

The new high-resolution mass spectrometer has been installed at Almac’s global headquarters, located in Northern Ireland, and will support its biologics offering for the analysis of peptides, proteins, glycoproteins and antibody products. This adds to the existing industry support at its new biologic testing laboratory based in Athlone, Ireland, announced just three months ago, which supports QC release and characterisation of biologics.

The £500,000 investment in a Thermo Orbitrap LC-MS instrument substantially increases the company’s capabilities in solving biologic analytical challenges and underlines Almac’s commitment to providing the latest in cutting-edge analytical solutions, equipment and facilities for its global client base. The instrument is capable of offering a complete analysis package to cGMP including amino acid sequencing, peptide mapping, disulfide bridge analysis using MS and MS/MS, glycosylation analysis, identification of post-translational modifications e.g. acetylation, phosphorylation in addition to biomarker discovery.

With this additional service, clients will benefit from an extended range of mass spectrometry services including the quantitation of genotoxic impurities, structure elucidation, isotopic purity determinations and high-resolution mass spectrometry of both large and small molecules.

John Robson, VP Analytical Services, Almac Sciences commented, “This new mass spectrometer reinforces Almac’s vision of delivering the best for our customers and substantially enhances the level and depth of services we provide.”

John Malone, Analytical Manager added, “We are delighted with this vital investment – whilst customer focus is always our priority, we are confident that the enhanced service offering will benefit our clients further.”

The addition of this equipment further complements the well-established range of analytical services already offered from Almac’s global analytical testing facilities located in the UK, Ireland and North America.