4/22/2024:
Our veterinary diagnostic laboratory already is one of the largest and most modern laboratories in the world. To maintain our status as one of the leading organizations in the field of animal health and to serve our clients in the best possible way, we are building a new animal facility and analytical chemistry lab.
New animal facility
Adjacent to its current BSL-2 animal facility GD is building a new, 250m2 large, BSL-2/3 facility. “Our current facility is state-of-the-art and one of the largest of its kind with over 70 operational isolators. However, our floor pen capacity is relatively small”, says Berend Oosterhuis, head of Contract Research & Consulting at GD. “We regularly have to turn down requests for studies or postpone them due to a limited capacity in our floor pens. In addition we often get requests for studies we simply cannot run in our current facility.”
The new facility will double the number of floor pens to 12 in total. The facility will consist of three small (10 m2) and three large (40m2) rooms. One of the small rooms will be a BSL-3 room, the other rooms will be BSL-2. The maximum capacity for housing poultry and pigs will more than double. In addition to poultry and pigs, the facility will also be suitable for hosting small ruminants and calves. “The aim of the new facility is not purely to increase the animal capacity but to widen the breadth of studies that we can facilitate”, continues Berend. The new facility adds a number of possibilities to our current offering such as hosting pregnant sows, working with BSL-3 grade pathogens and performing small surgeries.”
The new facility is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2024.
New analytical chemistry lab
Besides the new animal facility, we are also setting up a new analytical chemistry lab. The laboratory space has already been built and currently the equipment is being installed and validated. Method validation is expected to start by March 2024 and end in December 2024 . More than 50 methods will be developed. The laboratory will be equipped with Triple Quad LC-MS/ MS systems and the plan is to add later on a High Resolution MS to the equipment. Berend: “The new laboratory will be used for routine residue testing but also opens up multiple opportunities for contract research. With the addition of this new analytical laboratory to our capabilities we can now also offer PK, Bioequivalence and Residue studies to our pharmaceutical clients.”
The laboratory is expected to open in 2025.
Berend: “We are very proud of these developments and can’t wait to start. If you want to know more about the new facilities and the possibilities they open up, contact our team.”