How to read a peptide COA

What a COA is

A COA records the tests a laboratory ran on a sample it was sent, and the results. It describes that sample. It is not a statement about every unit a supplier has ever sold under the same name.

Two kinds are common. A manufacturer or supplier COA is issued by the company that made or sold the material. A third-party report is issued by a separate laboratory that was sent a sample. The header tells you which one you are reading.

The header: who, what and when

Read the header before the results. It tells you what the results belong to.

• Laboratory. The name and contact details of the lab that issued the report.
• Client. Who submitted the sample. This can be a manufacturer, a supplier or a reseller, and it is not always the store where you found the report.
• Sample or product name. Labs usually print the name the client wrote on the sample. It may be a short label such as a code and a strength, not a full chemical name.
• Lot or batch number. The production run the sample came from. This is the number that links a report to a physical product.
• Report or accession number. The lab's own reference for the report.
• Dates. When the sample was received and when the results were reported.

A real header, field by field

Here is the header of one report in the library, the one Robin supplied for its BPC-157 vial in the 10 mg strength. Open the original file to read the results under it.

Identity

The identity test asks whether the sample is the compound its label names. For peptides it is usually done by mass spectrometry, often written LC-MS. The instrument measures the mass of the molecules in the sample, and the lab compares that with the mass the named compound should have.

The result is normally a single word such as “Confirmed” or “Conforms”. Some reports add the mass spectrum itself, with the measured peaks labelled.

Purity

Purity is usually measured by HPLC with UV detection. The sample is separated into its components, each of which shows as a peak on a chart called a chromatogram. Purity is the area of the main peak as a percentage of the area of all the peaks detected.

Two limits are worth knowing. Purity is a proportion, so it says nothing about how much material is in the container. It also covers only what the detector can see: water and salts, for example, do not appear as peaks.

For a blend, the chromatogram shows one named peak for each component, and the report may give one purity figure for the named components together.

Net content

Net content, sometimes called quantity or assay, is the measured amount of the compound in the container. It is the figure to compare with the strength on the label.

It is a separate test from purity and labs often run it only when asked. If a report says “Not requested” or leaves the line empty, the amount was not measured, and the report does not confirm the labelled strength.

Other tests you may see

• Endotoxin. A test for bacterial endotoxins, commonly the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. It is reported as a value in endotoxin units or as a pass against a stated threshold.
• Microbial screening. A check for microbial contamination, by culture or by a PCR-based method.
• Appearance. A plain description of the sample, such as its colour and whether it is a powder or a liquid.

Each result should name the method used. A result with no method beside it is harder to weigh.

Matching a report to a product

A report applies to a product only when the identifiers agree. Check four things:

• the product name and strength on the report against the product in front of you;
• the lot or batch number on the report against the lot printed on the label;
• the client, so you know who had the sample tested;
• the report date, so you know how recent the test is.

A report for the same product name from a different lot, or issued to a different supplier, can be a useful reference. It is not a certificate for the material you hold.

What a COA does not tell you

• It does not cover lots other than the one tested.
• It does not describe how the material was stored or handled after the test.
• It is not a regulatory approval, and it does not establish that a material is suitable for any particular use.

The research-use policy sets out how documents on this site should and should not be relied on.

How lab reports are shown on this site

The lab report library holds the original supplied files, which open without an account, and can be searched by product, strength or lot. On a Robin product page, each linked report shows the report client, the lot, the laboratory and the report number.

On a product page, a report is linked as that product’s own only when the supplier provided it for that product and strength. Where a report was issued to a previous supplier for its own lot, the page says so and labels it a reference record.