Just 10 years after opening in Waterford, the Q1 Scientific facility has grown by 500% and international expansion is on the horizon. Building on their success, Q1 Scientific is opening a new 20,000 sq ft cGMP facility in Belgium and adding an additional 10,000 sq ft at their Waterford facility.
Stephen Delaney Managing Director at Q1 Scientific. Phot by Colin Shanahan
World-class stability storage solutions
Founded in Waterford by serial entrepreneur Louise Grubb, Q1 Scientific offers environmentally controlled stability storage services to the pharmaceutical, medical device and life sciences industries at their 30,000 sq ft. cGMP facility.
Speaking to the Waterford News & Star, Stephen Delaney, Managing Director at Q1 Scientific said:
“Q1 Scientific is revolutionising the way pharmaceutical companies store their products, helping to improve the speed it takes for new drugs to reach the marketplace along with saving companies the expense of building and monitoring their own storage chambers. We were the first company in our sector to establish in Ireland and we are now leaders in stability storage services.”
Stability is a process that all pharmaceutical companies must go through to get their products to market. It involves placing samples into environmentally controlled chambers to determine how the quality of the substance or product varies with time under the influence of environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and light. A good stability programme is required to register and commercialise any pharmaceutical or regulated consumer product. It is also essential in determining the shelf life of any product and is an integral part of the product development process.
Q1 Scientific provides industry-leading temperature-controlled storage facilities and state-of-the-art technology support to manage stability storage. The service saves companies the expense of building and monitoring storage chambers and frees up this time and expense for them to focus on their own areas of expertise.
Talking about the service offered by Q1 Scientific, Stephen said:
“At our facility, we offer a full range of ICH and non-ICH storage conditions from ultra-low freezer conditions (-80°C) up to oven temperatures. Companies store samples with us because we provide a secure, reliable and cost-effective stability storage service.”
Expansion
Last year, Q1 Scientific was acquired by US company Cambrex, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) providing drug substance, drug product and analytical services across the entire drug lifecycle.
Q1 Scientific’s expansion into Belgium is part of the Cambrex strategy to expand its portfolio of specialised solutions for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing across North America and Europe. The new state-of-the-art temperature-controlled and monitored storage facility in Belgium will be located in the easily accessible Liege region approximately 50 miles from Brussels. Stability storage conditions will allow for 35,000 temperature-controlled storage spaces for all key ICH climatic zones, including long-term, intermediate and accelerated stability trials including 2 – 8°C and 25°C / 60%RH and 40°C / 75%RH.
On expanding Q1 Scientific into Belgium, Stephen said:
“Operating two sites will be a great benefit to our European customers, who can now expect even faster turnaround times for the return of samples. Meanwhile, we will also be able to provide greater temperature-controlled transport options in mainland Europe.”
In addition to opening in Belgium, Q1 Scientific is upgrading its office facilities in Waterford and expanding the facility by another 10,000 sq ft. To support this growth, Q1 Scientific plans to increase its Waterford team by another 30% over the next two years.
For further information, visit www.q1scientific.com
