Medutest result on a Qingdao survodutide lot lands 2.7 points above the supplier’s stated figure

Medutest has published a purity determination of 96.0% on a 15 mg vial of survodutide supplied by CPC, against a figure of 92.4% on the certificate that accompanied the vial. The sample was submitted by the Journal in May 2025 as part of a continuing programme of arm’s-length purchasing, and the vendor was told before the order was placed that any result would be published.

Reported figures across the set were: highest 96.0%, lowest 92.4%, median close to the midpoint of the two. Every report in the set stated a detection wavelength, and 5 of them stated an integration threshold. The Journal has asked the laboratory to publish thresholds on all reports as a matter of routine.

The wider context is that material sold for research use carries no regulatory release specification in any jurisdiction the Journal has examined. A certificate is a commercial document, not a compliance one, and its content is whatever the issuer chooses to put on it. That is the gap independent testing fills, and it fills it imperfectly.

Dr Sirichai Boonmee, peptide chemist, Chulalongkorn University, said the gap was predictable from the methods alone. "You can reconstruct almost the whole difference from the integration threshold. What you cannot reconstruct is why anyone thinks a number without a threshold is comparable to a number with one."

CPC’s dossier has been updated with this determination and with the company’s response to it. The dossier’s ordering box records the lead times, the minimum quantities and what a buyer should ask for at the point of order.