Astech has launched a whole new line of automated machines improve various aspects of respiratory drug delivery testing, providing a reliable and standardised testing platform for manufacturers of inhaled products.
The Xelair series of products tests the dose content uniformity of the emitted dose, Xelize is a range for particle size determination (used in conjunction with the Andersen cascade impactor), and Xelox is a next generation series of products for particle size determination with the next generation impactor.
The company came up with this new range in response to customers complaining of productivity limitations due to manual product testing, with the new machinery 'evolving' from early bespoke automation platforms that were designed to suit the need of individual pharma clients according to company director, Anthony Moran.
"There is a clear market need for robust, reliable industrial automation for the laboratory (inhaled product) testing environment given the increase in reliability of the data over manual methods," Moran told in-PharmaTechnologist.com
"Productivity is key, given the high volumes that have to be test for batch release purposes and R&D product development…by releasing this standardised range of products Astech hopes to meet [customers'] testing needs."
According to Moran, Astech is first on the market with this new class of automated equipment, with other marketed products offering only a semi-automated format.
This automated X range products promised to offer significant advantages over manual or semi-automated testing process; productivity can be increased through 24/7 operation of the machinery, the process is more accurate and precise than human testing, and testing can become standardised across global sites resulting in greater harmonisation throughout company processes.
In addition, the company claims that the products can offer real cost benefits due the reduced labour costs and significantly increased time to market due to increased productivity and reduced R&D costs due to the accelerated development cycle.
The units themselves cost from £150,000 (€222,000) for a semi-automated system to £500,000 for fully automated, and take up to 12 weeks for full installation and commissioning of a fully automated system.
Astech already has five major pharma companies in the US and Europe on their client list who have installed bespoke systems supplied by the firm, and the initial response to the new line of products has been very positive:
"There has been a great deal of interest from the major pharma companies and we are in discussions with a number of companies for the purchase of these systems," said Moran.
The new range marks a significant step for Astech, expanding its scope from consultancy and supply of purely bespoke automation/robotics products, to a firm able to offer a broader range and off-the-shelf products to the industry as a whole.
"The inhaled products market is growing and they need automation to test these products in high volume, reliably and repeatedly," said Moran. With the X range, Astech clearly intends to fill this gap in the market and further strengthen its position in advanced automated solutions.
