Axiom vs Vanguard Laboratory
A general analytical laboratory in Washington State. Peptide purity and quantity testing is one line of business alongside food and beverage, brewing chemistry, soil, allergen and terpene analysis.
Everything attributed to Vanguard Laboratory below was read on their own website on the date shown beside it, and every source is linked. Where they do not publish something, the page says so instead of guessing. Where they are ahead of us, the page says that too.
Where Vanguard Laboratory is ahead of Axiom
This section comes first deliberately. A comparison page that only flatters the lab that wrote it is worth nothing to a buyer, and you would find this out elsewhere anyway.
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Vanguard states ISO/IEC 17025 and publishes an A2LA Certificate of Accreditation on a dedicated page. Axiom does not hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. That is the single biggest difference between us and it is in their favour. If accreditation is a requirement for your use, stop reading and use them.
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Their Level 2 and Level 3 tiers include USP <61> testing. Axiom accepts USP <61> into controlled accession; unresolved exact qualification evidence prevents a CFU/conformance PASS and is surfaced to our staff for resolution. Rapid DNA is not a substitute. Vanguard publishes USP <71> as an orderable add-on. Axiom likewise accepts USP <71> into controlled accession; unresolved procedure, exact product/matrix suitability, media controls, criteria, or material budget prevents a sterility/conformance PASS and is surfaced to our staff for resolution.
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They require more than one vial as standard on the upper tiers: 3 vials at Level 2 and 4 at Level 3. Axiom calculates mandatory microbial-service containers separately from optional cross-vial consistency repeats.
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A much broader analytical scope: food and beverage, brewing chemistry, soil, allergen, terpene, residual solvent, pesticide and mycotoxin work. We do one thing.
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Their published 5-8 day purity and quantity turnaround is comparable to ours and their heavy metals and endotoxin at 3-5 days are faster than our 8X panel.
Side by side
Panels in this market do not answer the same set of questions, so the prices are not like for like. Read what each one includes before comparing the numbers.
Registered business address 2108 N St Ste N, Sacramento, CA 95816, USA. That is the entity's principal address, not a published laboratory street address, and it is not where samples are received: a receiving address is issued with each order.
2635 Parkmont Ln SW, Suite A, Olympia WA 98502.
Not ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. Testing runs under a documented quality system and every method prints its own validation status beside the result it produced.
States ISO/IEC 17025 in its peptide-testing FAQ, and publishes an A2LA Certificate of Accreditation image on a dedicated page. Also states HPLC methods validated to USP 1225 and Ph.D. chemists reviewing every result.
Defined Axiom 4X Essential $195 scope: Molecular Mass Fingerprinting, Homogeneity Profiling, Net Peptide Mass Quantitation, Rapid Microbial DNA Screen. Axiom 8X Comprehensive $595 adds Bacterial Endotoxin, Elemental Catalytic Sweep, Post-Reconstitution Stability, Fentanyl & Analog Screen. Paid 4X/8X intake is open with required Rapid DNA and a conservative accession reservation. Unresolved platform, matrix-suitability, control, criterion, or material evidence is surfaced to our staff for resolution; custody, entry, signing, and release are not blocked. Endotoxin is a $50 module on the defined 4X configuration and is included in 8X. USP <61> and USP <71> are separate services that may be accessioned; unresolved controlled evidence prevents CFU or sterility PASS claims and is surfaced to our staff for resolution.
Level 1 Silver: HPLC purity analysis, quantity/concentration, and detailed COA, 1 vial. Level 2 Gold: Level 1 plus endotoxin USP <85>, bioburden USP <61>, and PQ identity/purity/net content, 3 vials. Level 3 Elite: Level 2 plus heavy metals, 4 vials. USP <71> sterility is a separate optional add-on, not included in Level 2 or 3. BAC water testing covers benzyl alcohol, pH, and bioburden.
LC-MS/MS (ESI+), included in the base panel. Theoretical mass, observed mass and the error in daltons and ppm are printed for every declared component.
The peptide-testing page describes HPLC purity and quantity analysis and does not state a separate identity determination or the instrument behind one. We are not inferring what is or is not run.
Axiom 4X Essential $195 per base sample service. Axiom 8X Comprehensive $595 per base sample service. USP <71> is a $175 separate service when selected with 4X or 8X and is included in DX. Graduated panel discounts: 5–9 samples: 10%, 10–14 samples: 15%, 15–19 samples: 20%, 20–24 samples: 25%, 25+ samples: 30%. The highest earned rate applies and does not stack. Extra same-lot vials for cross-vial consistency from $95, stepping down per vial.
Level 1 Silver $250. Level 2 Gold $550 (endotoxin listed as a $210 value). Level 3 Elite $700 (heavy metals listed as a $150 value). USP <61> bioburden $100 standalone and included in Levels 2 and 3. USP <71> sterility is an optional $150 add-on. Conformity testing an additional $100. BAC water testing $200 per vial. Bulk and volume discount pricing offered.
6 business days average for 4X and 6 business days average for 8X analytical work, measured from arrival of the required accession allocation rather than from order placement. Qualification or material gaps are surfaced to our staff for resolution and do not block entry, signing, or release. Any USP <71> execution has a minimum 14-day incubation timebase and cannot be folded into a fast analytical tier.
5-8 days for purity and quantity testing. Heavy metals and endotoxin are each listed at 3-5 days. The USP <71> section states a 14-day minimum; the FAQ describes sterility as taking 15 days. Rush options are available.
A public URL per released certificate, a verification page and QR, a public JSON endpoint, an embeddable widget, and published keys plus a signing recipe so the seal can be verified offline.
A digital report and Certificate of Analysis delivered by email, plus a Verified by Vanguard programme with Silver, Gold and Elite marks for qualifying products after testing.
Where Axiom genuinely differs
Each of these is tied to something you can go and check on this site, rather than to an adjective. If the artifact named is not there, the claim is wrong and we want to know.
Identity by LC-MS/MS accurate mass is included in the base Axiom panel and printed with the theoretical mass, observed mass and the error in daltons and ppm. Vanguard's peptide-testing page describes purity and quantity and does not state an identity determination.
Our certificate schema states the method status beside each result and every public page states that Axiom is not ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. Paid accession, entry, signing, and release are open under operational scope; unresolved evidence is surfaced to our staff for resolution and blocks none of them.
Anyone holding an Axiom report ID can pull the laboratory record from a public URL and verify the seal offline. Retrieval does not depend on the vendor forwarding a PDF.
What we could not establish
Gaps in our knowledge, stated as gaps. None of these is a criticism of Vanguard Laboratory, and none of them should be read as an absence of the capability. It means we did not find it published and we are not filling it in with an assumption.
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The scope of their A2LA accreditation. The page publishes a certificate image; we did not extract the accredited test list from it, and an accreditation always applies to a defined scope rather than to everything a lab does. Ask them which peptide methods are in scope.
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Whether identity is determined by mass spectrometry on any tier. Not stated on the pages we read.
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Whether certificates can be retrieved by a third party who was not the submitting customer.
If you work at Vanguard Laboratory and anything on this page is out of date or wrong, write to legal@axiomanalyticslab.com and we will correct it. We would rather fix a figure than defend one. The canonical version of anything here is on vanguardlaboratory.com, not on this page.