Automation Technology Selection Vital to Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industry Transformation

Automation expenditures in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry are expected to exceed US$3 billion by 2012, according to a new market report.

"Even with tightening budgets and the current financial crisis, the market for automation products and systems in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry continues to be moderate to strong. However, much of the current automation focuses on projects with immediate return on investments, projects that are the result of consolidation of manufacturing operations, and standardization of applications across the entire enterprise,” stated principal analyst for the CPG Industries John Blanchard, the principal author of ARC's (Dedham, MA, USA) new market report.

The four major areas of focus in pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing are manufacturing productivity, flexibility, and service; the new scientific risk-based approach to regulatory compliance; reducing the cost and time of technology transfer; and ensuring product quality, safety, security, and delivery. The industry has also expressed concern over how it is going to support the ever-increasing level of automation with increasingly limited technical resources.

Over-investing has left big pharmaceutical companies with surplus manufacturing capacity at the same time R&D pipelines are drying up, regulatory barriers are delaying new approvals, and many of the blockbuster products are losing patent protection, according to the report. Discovering and commercializing new drug products remains the cornerstone of the industry. As new drug lifecycles continue to decrease and drug development expenses continue to rise, shortening time-to-commercialization is vital. However, traditional industry growth drivers of R&D and sales and marketing are slowing. Competition is intense. Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and excipient manufacturing and sourcing have become global. This is placing new emphasis on manufacturing to drive margin and growth. The Darwinian concept of "adapt or die” is on the mind of every senior executive; and proper selection and deployment of automation technology have become vital to success, according to the market research.

There are several reasons why production management software and analytics software are two of the fastest growing automation technologies being deployed by users, according to the report. Some suppliers have analytics that help reduce production cycle time and throughput. Others have analytics that can evaluate numerous solvent extraction schemes, reducing the number of experiments performed during the drug development phase.

Some suppliers have a strong presence in one or two geographic regions. Others have a strong presence on all four geographic regions, including a strong support infrastructure. Less presence in a geographic region can be an opportunity for the supplier. However, user manufacturers must evaluate such a supplier's regional support capabilities and commitment to their industry needs. The Latin American market is the fastest growing, but also a small market. Asia is the second fastest growing market and growing in market share, according to ARC analysts. India and China are playing a significant role in this market in terms of automation expenditures, customer relationship management (CRM), and contract manufacturing organization (CMO) capabilities, and domain expert information technology (IT) services. Acquisitions continue in 2009; however, acquisitions are one of several factors inhibiting deployment of new automation products and systems.

The ARC Advisory Group is a research and advisory firm for manufacturing, energy, and supply chain solutions. The company's coverage of technology from sensors and automation to production, design, and business systems makes it focused for business and IT executives worldwide.

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