The Alphex batch numbering system
What a batch is, where the number appears, what it lets you do, and what changes and does not change between batches.
Every Alphex vial carries a batch number, and that number is the thread connecting the vial in your freezer to a specific chromatogram, a specific testing laboratory report and a specific date. This note explains how the numbering works, what it lets you do, and how to use it in your own records. All Alphex products are for laboratory and in-vitro research only.
This note describes how Alphex numbers batches. The general case, and why it matters when reading any supplier's certificate, is in why COA batch matching matters.
What a batch is at Alphex
One synthesis and purification run of one compound, lyophilised and vialled together in the sizes we sell, tested as a unit by the independent laboratory, and listed only if it passes. Every vial from that run carries the same batch number and is described by the same Certificate of Analysis. The next run is a new batch with a new number and a new certificate, even if it is the same compound to the same specification. See why batch matching matters.
Where the number appears
- On the vial label, alongside the compound name, size and the research-use-only statement.
- On the Certificate of Analysis header.
- On the chromatogram and mass spectrum within the certificate, as the sample identifier the laboratory used.
- On the packing slip in your parcel.
- In our own records against the order, so a batch can be traced even if a label is lost.
All four should agree. If they ever do not, tell us and we will resolve it before you use the material.
What it lets you do
- Retrieve the exact evidence. Ask us for the certificate for any batch number, at any time, including for material bought months ago.
- Trace a result. Carry the batch number onto aliquot labels and lab-book entries and a surprising experiment becomes answerable: was it this batch? Compare to a fresh one. See aliquoting.
- Make a purity claim. The guarantee operates against the batch's own certificate; without the number there is nothing to compare. See the purity guarantee.
- Plan single-batch projects. Ask whether current stock covers your project quantity, or reserve from an incoming batch. See bulk and repeat orders.
- Satisfy institutional records. Chemical inventories and methods sections increasingly ask for supplier, compound, purity and lot. See record keeping.
What changes between batches
The specification does not: 99+% HPLC purity at 220 nm against a reference standard, ESI-MS identity within 1 Da, same salt form, same sizes. What changes is the exact purity figure (99.2 and 99.5 are both passes), the impurity profile in the minor peaks, the test date and the laboratory report reference. For most work that is immaterial; for a project sensitive to the impurity profile it is a reason to buy the requirement from one batch. See common peptide impurities.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see the certificate for the batch in stock before ordering?
Yes. See the COA library.
What if my order spans two batches?
The packing slip lists which vials are which, and we send both certificates.
How long do you keep batch records?
Indefinitely, along with the certificates; ask by batch number at any time.
Alphex research peptides are supplied for laboratory and in-vitro research by qualified researchers only. They are not authorised for human or veterinary use.
Research use only. Alphex products are supplied exclusively for laboratory and in-vitro research by qualified researchers. They are not authorised for human or veterinary use, and nothing in this note is advice on any such use.
Published 13 March 2026, last reviewed 16 August 2026. Alphex reviews research notes when the testing method, the catalogue or UK guidance changes.