Guide · Testing

How to verify a peptide lab report (COA)

A certificate of analysis, or COA, is a laboratory’s report on a sample from one batch. It is worth as much as it can be checked. This guide sets out what to check on any peptide lab report, how to confirm one with the laboratory that issued it, and the red flags that call for a second look. It is written for laboratories ordering research peptides in Canada.

How do you verify a peptide certificate of analysis?

Check four things against the vial in your hands: the laboratory that issued the report, a lot number that matches the label, the date the test ran, and the methods it names. Then confirm the report with the laboratory itself, using contact details you find independently, not the ones printed on the document.

Check who issued the report

A certificate of analysis is the laboratory’s document, so start with the laboratory. Its name should be printed on the report, with a way to reach it that does not run through the seller: a website, an address or a mailbox of its own. A report number or verification code ties the document to the laboratory’s own files.

A report is independent only when the laboratory is not the seller. A document a supplier issues about its own goods is a description, not a third-party test.

Match the report to your vial

The lot or batch number on the report matches the one printed on your vial label. A certificate for another batch says little about yours.
The compound named on the report is the compound named on the label.
Where the laboratory measured the amount in the vial, the report states it beside the amount on the label.

Read the test date

A report describes the sample on the day the laboratory tested it. Check that a test date is printed, that it falls after the batch was made where both are shown, and that it fits the batch you were sold. A date that is cropped, covered or written in by hand is a reason to ask.

Know what each method tells you

Chromatography, usually HPLC, separates the sample and reports how much of it is one compound. That is the purity figure. It does not say which compound it is.
Mass spectrometry, written MS or LC-MS, measures the mass of the molecules in the sample. It is how a laboratory confirms which compound is present.
A measured amount, sometimes called net content or fill, compares what is in the vial with what the label states.

A figure with no method beside it is hard to check. A result a report does not show was not reported, and should not be read as a pass.

Confirm the report with the laboratory

Find the laboratory’s contact details yourself, from its own website, not from the report or from the seller.
Where the laboratory offers a verification page, enter the report number or code printed on the document, and compare what it shows with your copy.
Otherwise, write to the laboratory with the report number, the lot number and the test date, and ask whether it issued that report.
Compare its answer with your copy line by line: the compound, the lot number, the date and every figure.

Some laboratories will not discuss a client’s report with anyone else, and will only say whether a report number exists. That is still worth knowing: a number the laboratory has no record of is the clearest red flag there is.

Red flags on a certificate

Another business’s name on the report, as the client or the party that sent the sample. A laboratory tests what it is sent, for whoever sent it, so that report describes another company’s sample, not necessarily the batch you hold.
A lot number that is missing, or that does not match the vial label.
No test date, or a date that is cropped, covered or written in.
No report number or verification code, or one the laboratory cannot find.
The same report shown for several products, sizes or batches.
Fonts, spacing or logos that change partway through the document, or a header that has been cut off.
A laboratory that cannot be reached except through the seller.

How our own reports can be checked

Every batch we sell has a published report from an independent laboratory, and every record is on our lab reports page, including batches that failed or were withdrawn. The code printed on each vial label opens that batch’s record. Our guide to peptide testing in Canada explains what our reports cover, and the journal’s guides go further.

From the journal

The research catalogue

Everything below is sold as a laboratory reagent, for in-vitro research. Each pack size has its own page, with its price in Canadian dollars, whether it can be ordered now, and the batch record behind it. When a pack size is out of stock, its page offers one email when it can be ordered again.

Every batch record, failed and withdrawn batches included, is on the lab reports page.

Questions

What is a certificate of analysis for a peptide?

A laboratory’s report on a sample from one batch: which compound it found, how much of the sample is that compound, and, where it was measured, the amount in the vial. It names the laboratory, the lot number and the test date, and it describes that batch only.

How can you tell if a COA is fake?

Not from the document alone. Look for the red flags, then confirm the report number with the laboratory, using contact details you find yourself. A laboratory that has no record of the number did not issue the report.

Why would a COA show another company’s name?

Because that company sent the sample. A laboratory issues each report to the client that submitted it, so a report naming another business describes that business’s sample. Ask the seller for the report on its own batch, and check that its lot number matches your vial.

What is the difference between HPLC and mass spectrometry on a COA?

HPLC separates the sample and reports how much of it is one compound. Mass spectrometry measures molecular mass, and is how a laboratory confirms which compound that is. A report with only one of the two answers only one of those questions.

Where are your lab reports?

On the lab reports page, one record per batch, with failed and withdrawn batches kept on it. Its filter takes a compound, a lot number or a laboratory, and the code on each vial label opens that batch’s record.

Do you advise on using these products?

No. We supply laboratory reagents, and we help with orders, shipping, batch records and certificates. We do not answer questions about use in people or animals.

All research peptides in Canada

For laboratory research use only. Not for human or veterinary use. Not a drug, food, or cosmetic.