ISO 17025 peptide testing: what accreditation covers and how to check a lab's scope

What ISO 17025 accreditation covers in peptide testing

ISO/IEC 17025:2017 sets the general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. An accreditation body, such as A2LA or PJLA in the US, assesses a lab against it and grants accreditation for a defined scope: named tests, on named materials, by named methods. PJLA’s certificates say that accreditation claims “shall apply solely to those activities identified in the related scope”.

So “ISO 17025 accredited” on a peptide lab’s website tells you little until you read the scope. A lab can hold a real certificate for food microbiology or residual solvents and run its peptide purity test outside it. For peptide testing the question is narrow: are your peptide and your test on the scope?

ILAC P8, the international policy on accreditation claims, asks labs to mark results outside their scope and bars reports that imply accreditation that does not exist. The WHO model certificate of analysis says the same: cite accreditation only when it covers the analysis.

ISO 17025 lab accreditation vs certification

Labs are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, not certified to it. Certification, such as ISO 9001, checks a management system. Accreditation checks that a lab can produce valid results for specific tests, and that it runs a quality management system. A joint ISO-ILAC-IAF communiqué of April 2017 says the management system requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 operate generally in accordance with the principles of ISO 9001. If a lab says “ISO 17025 certified”, ask for the body and the certificate number.

Accreditation is also not a one-off. PJLA’s certificates state that their validity is kept up through ongoing assessments, and every certificate carries an expiry date. ILAC’s signatory search lists the accreditation bodies in each country that have signed its Mutual Recognition Arrangement.

ISO 17025 lab requirements, and where they show on a peptide report

The 2017 standard groups its requirements into general, structural, resource, process and management system clauses (UNIDO’s guide maps them). The ones a buyer can see on a report:

Clause	What the lab must do	What it means on a peptide report
4.1 Impartiality	Identify and manage risks to impartiality, including relationships	How the client is related to the lab
6.5 Metrological traceability	Link results to stated references	A named reference standard behind each mg result
7.2 Methods	Select, verify and validate methods	A method for each result
7.6 Measurement uncertainty	Evaluate the uncertainty of results	A ± with its coverage factor
7.7 Validity of results	Monitor results, including proficiency testing	Comparison results the lab can show
7.8 Reporting	Set report contents; verdicts only with a decision rule (7.8.6); corrections as a new, identified report (7.8.8)	A unique ID, dates and method; no bare “PASS”; a version history
8 Management system	Control documents and records, run internal audits and management review	Not visible on the report

See them on real reports in our guides to measurement uncertainty and signs of a weak COA.

Why the scope matters more than the logo

A scope lists, line by line, the field of testing, the materials, the analytes, the method and the technique. PharmLabs publishes its scope on its own site. One line lists peptides under the lab’s method SOP-043, by HPLC, for powders, oils, concentrates and plant materials. It names ten: BPC-157, CJC-1295, GHRP-6, hexarelin, ipamorelin, melanotan II, PT-141, semaglutide, thymosin alpha-1 and AOD-9604. PharmLabs also sells tests for retatrutide, tirzepatide and TB-500, and for endotoxin and sterility. None of these is on the scope.

Some scopes are flexible: each PJLA scope line carries flex codes, explained in a key at the end. F3 would let a lab add an analyte to an accredited method. PharmLabs’ peptide line carries F1 (a similar new material) and F4 (a new revision of the lab’s own method), not F3.

Other scopes name a general test, such as identification, purity and assay by HPLC on raw materials and finished products, without naming any compound. Either way, ask the lab in writing whether your result is covered.

ISO 17025 lab search: how to check a scope on A2LA or PJLA

1. Get the body and the certificate number. A report that carries an accreditation mark should show both.
2. Check the body. ILAC’s signatory search lists accreditation bodies by country.
3. A2LA. Open the directory at customer.a2la.org. Its keyword box takes scope text, a test method, a certificate number or an organisation name. The lab’s entry shows the standard, the field, the expiry date and whether the lab is commercially available. Download “Accreditation Scope & Certificate”.
4. PJLA. Open “Search Accredited Organizations” on pjlabs.com. Choose ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and Active, and type a keyword. The results list the certificate number, organisation, city and dates, and link to the certificate with its scope.
5. Read the scope. Find your peptide by name, your test (purity, content, endotoxin, sterility), the method and the material. A scope that names semaglutide does not cover a tirzepatide result.
6. Match the report. Results outside the scope should be marked as not accredited, and the report date should fall inside the accreditation period.

Search by compound name rather than the word “peptide”. On 4 October 2026, “peptide” in PJLA’s directory found one active certificate; “semaglutide” found two. A2LA’s directory also filters by country and state. We did not search other bodies’ directories, such as ANAB, IAS or UKAS.

Accredited peptide testing: which scopes named peptides in 2026

September 2026. Of the peptide testing labs in our research (the peptide testing market in 2026), only PharmLabs had peptides in a verified scope. Among the others:

• Vanguard Laboratory holds A2LA certificate 6377.01, valid to 30 September 2027. Its scope includes food microbiology, preservatives and residual solvents, among them trifluoroacetic acid. It does not list peptide purity, identity, content, endotoxin or sterility, and the lab’s site says accreditation applies to the tests and matrices in its published scope. More in our Vanguard review.
• Ethos Analytics holds PJLA certificate L26-225, valid to 30 June 2028. The scope in PJLA’s directory lists methods for supplements, cosmetics and botanicals, such as vitamin C, caffeine, melatonin and cannabinoids. It names no peptides.
• SIMEC AG holds Swiss accreditation STS 0443, with a flexible scope for its own HPLC and GC methods. Peptides are not named.
• MDx BioAnalytical Laboratory says on its site that its PJLA certificate has expired and re-accreditation is pending after a March 2026 audit.

Several other labs state accreditation without naming a body or certificate number, or say it is pending or in progress.

October 2026. On 4 October 2026 we searched both directories for the ten peptides in the second table below. Three more active scopes name some of them. SEP’s scope covers drug substances, drug products and supplements; Eagle’s covers compounded products. We have not checked whether these labs accept samples from individual buyers.

Lab (body, certificate, valid to)	Peptides named	Tests on the scope
PharmLabs (PJLA L25-933-R1, 29 February 2028)	The ten listed above	HPLC (SOP-043)
SEP Analytical Labs (A2LA 7794.01, 30 June 2028)	BPC-157, TB-500, sermorelin, tirzepatide, semaglutide, PT-141, GHK-Cu, SS-31, pinealon and others	HPLC (USP <621>); endotoxin (USP <85>) and USP <71> sterility for drug substances, drug products and supplements
Eagle Analytical Services (A2LA 3980.01, 30 April 2028)	Ipamorelin, sermorelin, tesamorelin and oxytocin, in a long list of compounded products	Potency by HPLC (USP <621>); endotoxin (USP <85>) and USP <71> sterility for compounded products
Celltechgen Lab (PJLA L25-638-R3, 31 October 2027)	Semaglutide, tirzepatide	Potency by HPLC (USP <621>); endotoxin (USP <85>, gel clot); sterility by qPCR, citing USP <71>, <1071> and <1223>

By compound, the same search found:

Peptide	Named in an A2LA scope	Named in a PJLA scope
Retatrutide	None found	None found
Cagrilintide	None found	None found
Tirzepatide	SEP Analytical Labs	Celltechgen Lab
Semaglutide	SEP Analytical Labs	Celltechgen Lab, PharmLabs
BPC-157	SEP Analytical Labs	PharmLabs
TB-500	SEP Analytical Labs	None found
GHK-Cu	SEP Analytical Labs	None found
Tesamorelin	Eagle Analytical Services	None found
Ipamorelin	Eagle Analytical Services	PharmLabs
CJC-1295	None found	PharmLabs

Two points stand out. None of these scopes lists an identity test by mass spectrometry for a peptide; our guide to LC-MS identity explains why that matters. And sterility on a scope can mean the 14-day USP <71> test or a rapid alternative method; our guide to sterility testing explains the difference. A keyword search finds only names as a scope writes them, so recheck before you order.

What accreditation does not tell you

An accredited scope does not show whether the lab has links to the seller; see how to check a lab’s independence. It does not put raw data on the report. It does not mean a second lab will report the same mg. And no lab test, accredited or not, says whether a product is safe to use: it describes the vial that was tested.

What HK Analytical does instead

We do not hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. Instead, every number comes with its raw data: chromatograms and spectra. Identity is by LC-MS. The report is a signed record, an Ed25519 signature over the canonical record, that anyone with its private link can check on /verify. It states how the client is related to HK Analytical, and a correction makes a new version, never an edit. Our quality page sets out how we measure, how we state uncertainty and when a report gives a verdict. The example report shows the layout; how to read a COA explains it.