By Angela Godwin

SALEM, N.H.-Boston Analytical, Inc., an independent, cGMP-compliant, contract-testing lab in Salem, N.H. (www.bostonanalytical.com), has built a new 2,500-square-foot facility designated specifically for microbiological testing.

Two types of testing will be done in the facility: testing on nonsterile pharmaceuticals, and sterility testing. The nonsterile testing will be done in the main laboratory, which houses two biological safety cabinets, a spectrophotometer, centrifuge, balances, incubators, refrigerators, and microscope. The sterility-testing laboratory, which will be classified as Class 100,000, will contain a Class 100 isolator/glovebox from M. Braun (Stratham, N.H.; www.mbraunusa.com), as well as a micro-identification genetic analyzer from Applied Biosystems (Foster City, Calif.; www.appliedbiosystems.com). The genetic analyzer will be able to perform DNA sequencing of unknown organisms.

Boston Analytical plans to have the facility up and running by April 1st. According to Lisa Suneus, microbiology laboratory manager for Boston Analytical, they already have a waiting list of customers eager to use the new services. “We're trying to offer our service not just to pharmaceutical companies, but also to hospitals, biotech, even semiconductor companies. A lot of the instruments we’ve purchased will do environmental monitoring, not just here, but on-site as well.” III