Intertek India recently announced the opening of its new analytical Lab, specialised in conducting extractable and leachable studies in Mumbai. Dr Mara Guzzetti, who is heading the Operations of the Chemical and Pharma division in Asia Pacific at Intertek, inaugurated the lab with the vision to build a strong platform to provide extensive services to the pharmaceutical industry in India.
Investigation of materials that are coming into contact with pharma and their possible interactions with these drugs are the basis of a better quality assurance for the packaging of the pharma products. Therefore, the new lab boasts of state of the art instrumentation namely, TDS – GC/MS, HPLC – DAD, UV which will be used for detecting, measuring and identifying the wide variety of compounds and degradation products of these materials that tend to leach into the drug product.
Guzzetti said, “With the increase in generics and contract manufacturing activities in countries like, India and China, it is imperative to have strong local expertise to look into quality at all levels, including medical devices. The new high end testing facilities established by Intertek here will enable our team of experts to conduct all the sophisticated analyses that need to be carried out on the ground in order to better protect the patients from related potential health risk.”
During the last three years, the group in Mumbai has carried out numerous seminars with key experts from the field, which have not only been welcomed in the market but have also indicated a very strong need for a reliable local testing facility in India. Therefore, in order to meet its customer’s expectation, Intertek has invested considerable efforts into knowledge management and knowledge transfer which are the crucial differentiators of this new lab in Mumbai.
The local expertise has been built and is maintained through strong cooperation and interaction with the company’s lab in Switzerland – which owns a long lasting reputation in the market. Both labs have their roots in the Ciba Geigy Group, where they used to belong before joining Intertek so the personnel have skills in the chemical and pharma industry. These skills, combined with the historical strong presence of Intertek in the Indian market, give the lab a unique position in the country.
Rajesh Saigal, Managing Director, Intertek India added, “Intertek has always been a trusted source in being the pioneers in the safety and quality domain in India. With the opening of its first extractable and leachable lab in Mumbai, Intertek now ventures into yet another new space to ensure the best in the pharma industry. The global pharma packaging market was valued at $47.8 billion in 2010 and is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.3 per cent from 2010–2017, to reach a value of $78 billion by 2017. Intertek plans to thrive on phenomenal potential of the industry and add to the India growth story.”
EP News Bureau – Mumbai
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