This is what a buyer checks before they shortlist a pharma, medical and life sciences supplier.
What does a formulator check before qualifying a new API or excipient supplier?
They check the regulatory filings before they check the price. A named pharmacopoeial grade, a DMF or ASMF reference number, the authority that issued your GMP certificate, and the markets your site is approved for decide whether qualification is even possible — long before commercial terms are discussed.
A regulatory affairs manager is building a supplier shortlist and needs to know, from your site alone, whether qualifying you is a six-month project or a non-starter.
Reviewed 4 August 2026 · Written for pharmaceutical ingredient suppliers selling to business buyers
What does a formulator check before qualifying a new API or excipient supplier?
What a buyer needs to identify the product
These are the fields a buyer scans before deciding whether you are worth contacting. Missing one of them usually ends the visit without an email.
- 1
Generic name and CAS number
The unambiguous identifier for the molecule under discussion.
- 2
Pharmacopoeial grade
IP, BP, USP, EP or JP compliance decides which markets the material can enter.
- 3
Polymorphic form or particle size, where relevant
Two materials meeting the same monograph can behave differently in a formulation.
- 4
Packaging and pack sizes
Determines storage, stability handling and shipping cost.
- 5
Approved markets
The single fastest way for a buyer to disqualify or shortlist you.
- 6
Minimum order quantity
Development quantities and commercial quantities are different conversations.
The documents buyers ask for
Not all of them belong on a public page. Naming the ones you can issue is what separates a supplier who can be audited from one who cannot.
| Document | What it proves | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Analysis (CoA)Asked at: with every batch | Batch conformance to the declared specification | Per shipment |
| Drug Master File reference (US DMF / EU ASMF)Asked at: at shortlisting — the number itself is the check | That the manufacturing and quality detail is already on file with the authority | Publish it |
| Certificate of Suitability (CEP/CoS)Asked at: by european buyers, early | EDQM confirmation that the European Pharmacopoeia monograph controls the substance | Publish it |
| GMP certificateAsked at: vendor qualification | Good Manufacturing Practice status, and critically which authority inspected you | Publish it |
| Manufacturing licence and site registrationAsked at: vendor qualification | That the named site is licensed to produce the material | Publish it |
| Residual solvent and elemental impurity statementAsked at: technical evaluation | Control against ICH Q3C and Q3D expectations | Name it, share on request |
| Stability data summaryAsked at: before formulation work starts | Shelf life and storage conditions under a recognised protocol | Name it, share on request |
Where pharma and ingredients sites lose the enquiry
Each of these is common, cheap to fix, and costs an enquiry that never arrives — so nobody ever reports it.
"GMP approved" with no authority named
GMP from one national authority and GMP from a stringent regulatory authority are not the same asset, and the buyer assumes the weaker one.
"DMF available" with no number or filing year
The number is the whole point — it is what the buyer looks up. Without it the claim cannot be checked and is treated as aspiration.
No list of approved markets
Regulatory teams shortlist by market access first. A supplier who does not state it is filtered out before the technical review.
What the enquiry form should ask
A form that collects these can be answered properly the first time. A form that collects a name and a message cannot.
Enquiry form — pharma and ingredients
Enough to reply usefully, short enough that a buyer finishes it.
- Product and pharmacopoeial grade
- Decides whether a quote is possible.
- Required documents
- A buyer asking for a CEP and a buyer asking for a CoA are at different stages.
- Quantity and packaging
- Development, pilot and commercial volumes price differently.
- Destination market
- Registration requirements follow the market, not the molecule.
- Sample or working-standard requirement
- Sample requests need a different internal route from commercial enquiries.
- Timeline for qualification
- Tells you whether this is a live project or a market study.
Questions suppliers ask
Should we publish our DMF number publicly?
Yes. The filing itself is a matter of record with the authority and the number is what lets a buyer verify you without contacting you. Publishing it converts an unverifiable claim into a checkable fact, which is the entire job of the page.
What should we say about markets we supply but are not registered in?
Say exactly that, in those words. "Supplied to" and "registered in" are different statements and buyers know the difference. Blurring them is the kind of thing that surfaces during an audit and costs you the account rather than the enquiry.
Is a product page enough, or do we need a full regulatory section?
A product page that names grade, DMF or ASMF status and approved markets does most of the work. A separate regulatory page helps when you have several sites with different approvals, because the buyer needs to know which site makes which product.
Documents and standards named here are the ones buyers in this industry commonly ask for; requirements vary by market, customer and contract, so treat this as a starting checklist rather than a compliance list. Clearer pages can help discovery and evaluation. They do not guarantee rankings, AI citations, enquiries or revenue.
Illustrative
An enquiry from this search looks like: Product and pharmacopoeial grade · Quantity and packaging · Destination market · Timeline for qualification
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