Astech REACTS to pharma’s automation needs

While financial details of the deal with the unnamed ‘top 5 pharma firm’ were not disclosed, the initial service contract will support the automated systems in both the manufacturing quality control / quality assurance (QA/QC) and research and development laboratories at a key European site.

The REACTS (Rapid, Effective and Complete Technical Support) service aims to provide pharmaceutical customers specialist assistance in maintaining their automated processes in drug discovery and quality control laboratories.

The company started as an automation consultancy and supplier of purely bespoke automation/robotics products, but is now perhaps best known for its ‘X’ range of automated drug delivery testing instruments for inhalable, solid dose and injectable formulations.

The launch of the REACTS service was announced at the end of March at Interphex 2008 with the aim of providing specialist automation installation, maintenance and technical support services for any automation system in the drug discovery and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

“In only four months we have significantly grown our customer base, which now includes a market leading pharmaceutical company,”​ said Anthony Moran, Astech Projects, Sales and Marketing Director.

“REACTS has evolved from an existing customer service, but today, with a larger, dedicated team that is solely devoted to this service, we can provide support on a truly global scale.”​

The company attributes the success of the service to pharmaceutical companies’ desire to become more efficient, which is increasing the use of laboratory automation, and also the way that it is serviced and maintained.

According to Judith Tomkinson, Sales Manager for Astech Projects, while the majority of pharmaceutical firms have technicians that can perform first line servicing for day to day equipment maintenance, there is a growing trend to outsource the more in depth maintenance and technical support services to outside contractors.

However, while there are a number of service providers willing to look after individual instruments, there are few companies willing to pit their wits against the complexity of many of today’s automated laboratories.

Astech’s existing team of automation specialists were uniquely positioned to fill this gap, and as demand has grown so too has the REACTS team, with Astech Projects recruiting respected engineers with experience of working with various automation systems within top pharmaceutical companies.

According to Tomkinson, this experience makes the team uniquely qualified to address any automation problems encountered within the pharmaceutical environment.

“We are proud to be able to offer this automation service to support both Astech systems as well as third party automation within the drug discovery and manufacturing arenas,” ​said Moran.