Nelson Labs® Offers Rare Inside Look at Lab Expansion Designed to Help Protect Patient Safety
April 2, 2026
Salt Lake City–based laboratory opens normally restricted space to invited guests, highlighting the behind‑the‑scenes work that helps keep medicines and medical products safe
SALT LAKE CITY (April 1, 2026) — Nelson Labs, a Salt Lake City–founded global leader in laboratory testing services, recently hosted invited guests for a rare look inside a new cleanroom expansion at its headquarters, offering insight into the highly controlled environments used to help ensure the safety of medicines and medical products before they reach patients.
Cleanrooms like this one are not typically accessible to the public. With construction on the space recently completed, the event took place during a brief window before the cleanroom undergoes final qualification — a standard step required before testing can begin. The timing provided a rare opportunity for guests to step inside a space that is normally closed off and see how intentional design and precision are built into environments that support patient safety.
“This is work most people never see, but it affects nearly everyone,” said Joe Shrawder, President of Nelson Labs. “Before a medicine or medical device reaches a hospital, pharmacy, or patient, it must meet strict safety expectations. Facilities like this are designed to support the science that helps make sure those products can be trusted.”
Nelson Labs welcomed nearly 100 guests, including Utah State Senator Wayne Harper and Utah State Representative Jim Dunnigan, along with customers, partners, and community leaders. Nelson Labs President Joe Shrawder, Vice President Thor Rollins, Laboratory Operations Leader Zach Anderson, and BioUtah President and CEO Kelvyn Cullimore delivered remarks on the role laboratories like this play in protecting patients and supporting Utah’s growing life sciences ecosystem.
As medicines and medical products become more complex, ensuring their safety requires increasingly controlled environments and independent verification. Even small lapses in sterility or quality can pose serious risks to patients. Independent laboratory testing helps manufacturers confirm products meet safety expectations before they are distributed, reducing the risk of recalls and helping maintain public confidence in healthcare systems.
The cleanroom expansion reflects Nelson Labs’ continued investment in infrastructure designed to support highly controlled testing environments for healthcare products.
Founded in Salt Lake City, Nelson Labs supports manufacturers whose products are used by patients around the world. The expansion underscores the company’s long‑standing presence in Utah and its ongoing commitment to the region’s life sciences ecosystem and highly skilled scientific workforce.
For more than 40 years, Nelson Labs has worked behind the scenes of the healthcare industry, helping manufacturers validate the safety, quality, and reliability of critical healthcare products long before they reach patients.
About Nelson Labs:
Nelson Labs is a global leader in microbiological and analytical chemistry testing and advisory services for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. We serve over 3,000 customers across 12 facilities in the United States, Mexico, Asia and Europe. With a comprehensive array of over 900 laboratory tests and the expertise of Regulatory Compliance Associates, a recognized leader in life science consulting, we support our customers from initial product development and sterilization validation, through regulatory approval and ongoing product testing for sterility, safety and quality assurance. We are regarded as a best-in-class partner with a strong track record of collaborating with customers to solve complex issues. Safeguarding Global Health® – with every test completed. Learn more: nelsonlabs.com.
Media Contact: Kate Corr, ccorr@nelsonlabs.com.