PerkinElmer has completed its acquisition of Irish manufacturing automation and GMP IT specialist SimoTech, expanding its capabilities in pharmaceutical manufacturing technology and digital systems.
The deal, first announced on August 11, brings SimoTech into PerkinElmer’s broader life sciences services platform, alongside its OneSource integrated laboratory and digital solutions business and Project Farma’s manufacturing and engineering services.
PerkinElmer describes Project Farma as its "dedicated global service provider in advancing manufacturing and technical operations for the world’s leading life science companies."
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Cork, Ireland, SimoTech provides automation and manufacturing technology services to the biopharma industry.
The company works with leading pharma and biotech manufacturers to design, implement and manage automation and digital manufacturing systems, with a focus on project delivery, operational performance, manufacturing flexibility and regulatory compliance.
Its technology expertise spans distributed control systems (DCS), manufacturing execution systems (MES), programmable logic controllers (PLC), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), data historians and GMP IT systems.
According to PerkinElmer, SimoTech supports half of the world’s top 20 pharma and biotech companies, giving the acquisition a significant customer and market reach within the biopharma manufacturing sector.
Building an end-to-end pharma services platform
PerkinElmer said the acquisition will combine SimoTech’s manufacturing automation and IT capabilities with Project Farma’s expertise in project management, commissioning, qualification and validation (CQV), automation and quality, regulatory and compliance services.
The company added that the combination is intended to enable it to support customers across the drug development and manufacturing lifecycle, from project planning and facility development through to manufacturing operations and optimisation.
“By combining SimoTech’s expertise in manufacturing automation and digital systems with the capabilities of OneSource and Project Farma, this acquisition creates a significant opportunity to build a differentiated, scaled platform for pharmaceutical services,” said Michael Stubblefield, CEO of PerkinElmer.
We are excited to welcome SimoTech’s exceptional team to the PerkinElmer family.
Anshul Mangal, President of PerkinElmer’s Pharma Specialty Services business, added that the combined capabilities could help pharmaceutical companies reduce time to market while providing support across both physical manufacturing infrastructure and the digital systems underpinning operations.
The combination of OneSource, Project Farma and SimoTech creates a unique opportunity to strengthen our partnerships with leading innovators and reduce the time to market for life-changing therapies.
The acquisition reflects the growing convergence of engineering, automation, IT and compliance requirements within pharmaceutical manufacturing, as drugmakers increasingly look to integrate digital technologies into increasingly complex production environments.
PerkinElmer said SimoTech’s team will now join the company as part of its expanded pharmaceutical services offering.
