Technical library
These are the eight questions worth asking any peptide supplier.
A procurement checklist for this category, with our own answer to each.
The tests
Eight questions, in the order worth asking them
Ask for a certificate before you order
Redacted is fine. What comes back tells you more than any purity figure on a homepage. If it arrives only after payment, that is the answer.
Check it carries a batch number
Without one it describes a product in general, not the thing you were sent. Everything else on the document is then unverifiable.
Look for a result, not a specification
A range is an intention. A single figure for a named batch is a measurement.
Find out who ran the analysis
In-house or independent, it should say. An unattributed result is a claim with nobody standing behind it.
Ask what the minimum order quantity is measured in
Per compound or per order changes the number completely. So does international units against milligrams.
Ask who the legal entity is
A registration number and a jurisdiction. Without a named contracting party there is nobody to enforce the terms against.
Ask what happens when a batch fails
The answer reveals whether there is a quality process or a sales process.
Ask them about your own market
A supplier who can say nothing about the rules where you sell will be no help when a shipment is stopped.
Why these eight
Each resolves to a documented fact
Purity, certification and delivery claims are common across this category, which limits how far they distinguish one supplier from another.
The questions below each resolve to a documented fact rather than a claim: a named entity, a dated certificate, a stated basis for a minimum order quantity.
Our answers. The contracting entity and registration number are on the About page. A redacted certificate is available before a first order. The structure of the supply chain is set out in full.
Questions
About vetting
Is a higher purity figure a better supplier?
Not on its own. Two laboratories can produce different figures for the same material by different methods and both be honest. A figure with a named method and a batch behind it beats a larger figure with neither.
Should we insist on third-party analysis?
It is stronger evidence, because the party has no commercial interest in the result. An honest in-house certificate that names its issuer still beats an unattributed third-party claim.
How many suppliers should we run this on?
Applying it to an existing supply arrangement is as useful as applying it to a new one.
What is the single fastest test?
Ask for a redacted certificate before you order. Response time and content together tell you most of what you need, and it costs you one email.
Put us through it
Ask for a redacted certificate, our entity details, or the position in your market.
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Also in the library
Related reference material
Procurement glossary
What the terms on a peptide quote mean, so two suppliers can be compared like for like.
Reconstitution concentration calculator
Work out the concentration of a reconstituted vial, how much compound sits in a given draw volume, and how many draws a vial yields.
How to read a Certificate of Analysis
What a batch certificate must contain, what each section actually tells you, and the six ways a weak certificate gives itself away.
Storage and stability
Lyophilised and reconstituted storage conditions, what degrades a peptide, and how to specify storage in a supply agreement.