Laboratory Automation

Instruments to automate specific laboratory tasks or analyses are readily available but can be difficult to integrate into a coherent system. However, TTP LabTech can integrate off-the shelf and novel technologies to automate the experimental processes you specify:

• compound preparation
• qualitative and quantitative characterization
• sample analysis and chemometric data processing
• data management and presentation.

Much laboratory automation can be broken down into standard steps, such as:

• component weighing and mixing
• dispensing with or without agitation
• high and low speed mixing
• heating and cooling
• maintaining an inert atmosphere
• in-process monitoring and rejection
• sampling and dilution
• filtering and purification

By moving vessels between such modular process steps, TTP LabTech delivers laboratory automation with complete process flexibility which allows large numbers of samples to be prepared, screened and analysed, each following a different procedure.

We work closely with clients to develop workflows which capture their needs. Where possible, existing instrumentation and labware are used to reduce development costs and simplify implementation. Custom components can be supplied for early testing and feedback.

Case Study 1

TTP LabTech developed a high-throughput synthesis workstation for a consortium of 9 leading pharmaceutical companies.

The system handled solvents and resin slurries and performed reagent addition, reagent filtering, sampling and product removal. It also had heating/cooling capability, automated scheduling and offered simultaneous module operation.

Case Study 2

TTP LabTech have automated “standardised” chemical synthesis processes such as heating, cooling, agitation and sampling into an fully automated chemistry synthesis system. Bringing automation to these processes increases production efficiency while permitting chemists to focus on more demanding research. The TTP LabTech system operates through a schedule of remotely submitted experiments, moving racks of vessels between automation benches as required. Finished product is assessed, then passed to the purification laboratory. Benefits include:

Automate standard solution phase organic synthesis

• Fast turnaround of a complete synthesis reaction
• Run with limited manual intervention
• Capture process data
• Process co-ordinated by a workflow management system
• Provide modularity, flexibility and extensibility

This novel approach provides complete process flexibility and allows large numbers of experiments to be queued up to run unattended, unlike most ‘automated chemistry’ systems.

Case Study 3

TTP LabTech developed an automated roller bottle incubation system for a major US biotech company to scale up their cell culture process. This required a completely novel approach to roller bottle storage and handling. The finished system stores and rotates 40,000 roller bottles in incubation rooms, and automatically transfers them to bottling plant elsewhere for cell harvesting.

The system took 25 man-years to complete and contains over 1,000,000 components, but the pay back time was less than 1 day. It has been in constant use for over 7 years, and TTP LabTech continue to provide parts.

Case Study 4

TTP LabTech has developed a novel tablet coating system with a capacity of 250,000 tablets an hour.

The project started from a laboratory process and was scaled up to a pharmaceutical processing plant. It involved fully understanding the science to get the best engineering design; building a pilot scale machine in parallel with the main system to allow early process development, and designing a simple and robust handling system.