Whats New with Robots in Pharmacies and Laboratories?
by Bennett Brumson , Contributing Editor Robotic Industries Association Posted 07/20/2009 Robotics have become an element of mainstream production in heavy industry for decades, but flexible automation is rapidly becoming commonplace in laboratories and pharmacies. “Stäubli has seen an increase of activity in life science applications, especially in drug discovery. We have sold over 150 robots for laboratory automation in the past five years. Drug discovery is one of our most important markets and this segment will increase,” asserts Sylvie Algarra, Life Science Activity Manager at Stäubli Corp., Duncan, South Carolina. Trendy Robots Robots are used for drug discovery in ultra high throughput compound screening, manipulating micro-titer plates, performing packaging and handling test tubes. Robots are increasingly used to fill prescriptions for individual patients. “Large retailers have entered the pharmaceutical business and are now dictating how drugs are introduced into the market. W
