SGS Announces New Research Tax Credit Recognition

SGS Life Science Services is to bring added-value to French clients’ drug development activities, as SGS’ biologics testing laboratory in Wokingham (London) has been granted the French Research Tax Credit recognition (CIR – Crédit Impôt Recherche agrément) from the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research and the renewal of this recognition for its two French labs, based in Poitiers and in Clichy. As outlined in the French authorities’ guidelines, the French Research Tax Credit serves as a tax incentive for innovative companies involved in R&D activities, through which R&D-related expenditures may qualify for a tax credit.

“We are pleased that our French clients can now benefit from the “CIR” in a common R&D effort to increase the quality, safety and efficacy of their biologic drugs,” said Dr Chris Harbach, Manager, Chemical Services, SGS M-Scan, Wokingham, UK. “This official recognition and incentive will definitely strengthen the relationship with our French clients to perform preformulation and stability studies, post-translational modifications, protein characterization and biophysical analysis.”

The SGS Wokingham laboratory has received CIR recognition for 3 years, effective from 2014 until December 2016. For a company to include its R&D costs in their CIR, it must ensure that such costs qualify as R&D expenditures under the terms of the CIR, and that the subcontractor is recognized by the Health Ministry of France. The SGS Wokingham facility fulfils these criteria, as do its affiliate sites in France and Belgium (Wavre), which all received a renewal for the same period.

“Our clients based in France will now have a large and complementary scope of analytical services covered by this R&D Tax Credit, including bioanalytical, immuno assays, biologics formulation, protein characterisation and stability analysis and chemistry/microbiological quality control testing,” commented Paul Beyou, SGS Life Science Services’ Laboratory Manager in Clichy, France.