How to read peptide COA files is a documentation skill, not a marketing one. A certificate of analysis (COA) or third-party lab report tells you what was measured on a named sample: typically HPLC purity as an area percent, sometimes measured content in milligrams, identity notes, method, and a test date. It does not authorize human use, and it does not by itself prove that the vial in your next shipment is the same material that was tested.
This guide is for Canadian research buyers who need a practical reading order before checkout and again at receiving. Compounds discussed here are research use only (RUO): not for human consumption, not approved by Health Canada.
Parent guide in this cluster: The complete guide to evaluating research peptides in Canada.
Expect at least:
Optional but useful: wavelength, chromatogram or peak table, impurity notes, and storage conditions on the product page that you can file next to the PDF.
A page that says “99% pure” with no method, no identifier, and no date is a claim, not a COA.
Confirm the compound name, the client or supplier name if shown, the report or sample ID, and the date. If your purchase is “Tirzepatide 20 mg” and the PDF header says a different molecule or a different strength, stop. File the mismatch before you open the vial for work.
HPLC purity on research peptide reports is usually area percent: the main peak’s share of detected peak area under the stated method. A result like 99.5% means the lab attributed that fraction of the chromatogram area to the target peak under those conditions. It is not a clinical purity grade, and it is not a guarantee about undeclared analytes outside the method’s window.
When you record purity in a notebook, write the number and the method (for example HPLC-UV). If two suppliers both say “99%” but only one publishes the method and chromatogram detail, you have unequal documentation quality even when the headline percentages look similar.
Label claim is what the catalogue or vial states (for example 10 mg, 20 mg). Measured content is what the lab reported for the tested sample (for example 10.85 mg or 21.94 mg). Those two numbers answer different questions.
A measured content slightly above or below the label claim is common when the lab reports recovered mass for that sample. It does not mean every vial in commerce contains that exact milligram figure. On VIP’s public index, values are transcribed from supplied reports for the samples tested, see /lab-reports/.
Do not treat measured content as a dosing instruction. There is no consumer dosing context on RUO listings.
If the report includes MS or an identity statement, record it. Watch for naming mismatches. Example from VIP’s published notes: a report may identify a sample as Thymosin beta-4 while a catalogue listing uses a fragment trade name, the PDF’s identity line is what the lab claimed for that sample, and the product page should say when the report does not fully establish the listing’s identity claim.
Even a clean PDF does not establish:
VIP’s lab-reports intro states this directly: results describe the tested sample only; report identifiers are not lot numbers.
Vancouver Island Peptides publishes analytical files on /lab-reports/. Read that page as a sample report index, not as a full lot-traceability portal for every unit shipped.
Practical rules when using VIP reports:
Coverage changes as new PDFs are posted. As reviewed for this draft against the live index:
Examples of published sample reports (IDs exist on-site, always re-check live):
Explicit unpublished gaps (do not invent IDs):
Related: a published BPC/TB blend report may cover a different fill (for example 10 mg + 10 mg or a 20 mg blend listing). An archived or alternate-strength PDF is not a substitute for the 5+5 option. The lab-reports page already notes when a blend report is not the 5+5 SKU.
If you need Tirzepatide 10 mg or the 5+5 blend for a protocol that requires a matching public PDF, either wait for publication, choose a strength with a live report, or document that you proceeded without a public sample file for that SKU.
Labs assign report or job codes so the PDF can be filed. Warehouses assign lot or batch codes so inventory can be traced. Those systems often use different strings.
Consequences for Canadian research receiving:
If your quality system requires true lot-linked COAs for every receipt, ask the supplier how sample reports relate to release lots before you treat the public index as sufficient for that SOP.
On the public index, Tirzepatide 20 mg appears with a report such as WTF-TIRZ-20-012226, HPLC-UV purity on the order of 99.78%, and measured content on the order of 21.94 mg (confirm live values on /lab-reports/, numbers can be updated when new files replace old ones).
A careful notebook entry looks like:
That entry supports auditability without overclaiming that every 20 mg vial equals the sample’s measured milligrams.
VIP’s differentiator for many buyers is published sample HPLC alongside BC lab-partner synthesis and Canada-wide shipping. The buyer’s job remains the same: read the file, note the limits, and refuse to invent documentation.
Research products only. Not for human consumption. Not approved by Health Canada. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Analytical reports, where published, describe the tested sample only.
Research products only. Not for human consumption. Not approved by Health Canada. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Analytical reports, where published, describe the tested sample only.