Top 5 Companies Manufacturing Automated Liquid Handlers Driving Automation

Published: September 2023


Over time, with growing demand for liquid handling systems and stringent regulatory guidelines, the biopharmaceutical industry has shifted to using automated liquid handling systems, which offer a reliable method for dispensing and aspirating the solution directly from the pipette to the tube or well. We analyzed over 125 companies engaged in the manufacturing of automated liquid handlers including automated pipetting systems / automated microplate washers. In this article, discover five manufacturers of such automated liquid handlers and their capabilities in this industry


In recent years, the biopharmaceutfical domain has witnessed several advancements in the field of laboratory sciences, including the emergence of automated systems. The use of automated liquid handling systems in the pharmaceutical industry has revolutionized the way modern laboratories operate. The advantages offered by automated liquid handling systems over manual methods primarily drive the growth of this market. Owing to the increased throughput, greater precision and improved workflows that allow significant time saving, more and more laboratories are now adopting these systems in order to give themselves a competitive edge, as compared to the past two decades. In order to leverage the full potential of automated liquid handlers and sustain growth in the future, it is important to address the various hurdles and existing challenges. Given the ongoing advancements in lab automation and growing adoption, the demand for automation in different lab processes is expected to increase in the future.

The increasing interest of stakeholders in automated liquid handling systems can be attributed to the benefits provided by these systems, such as enhanced workflows, increased reproducibility, and high-throughput. This has led to the expansion of intellectual capital in this industry. The number of patents filed / granted for automated liquid handling systems has increased steadily, over the years. This can be attributed to the incessant efforts that are being made to develop automated liquid handlers for use across multiple sectors of the biopharmaceutical industry.

Roots Analysis has conducted an exhaustive study on Automated Liquid Handling Systems Market featuring the current market landscape and future opportunity for the manufacturers involved in offering medical drones, over a span of 12 years.

Given the ease of use of these systems, along with the enhanced accuracy and reproducibility, and minimal requirement of manual labor, the market for automatic liquid handlers is anticipated to witness steady growth in the future.

Table of Contents

Below, we have listed (in alphabetical order), the top 5 manufacturers of automated liquid handlers transforming the liquid handling industry. 

1. Agilent Technologies
2. Beckman Coulter Lifesciences
3. Eppendorf
4. Hamilton Robotics
5. Thermo Fisher Scientific 

Top 5 Companies Manufacturing Automated Liquid Handlers

Interested in exploring all 125+ Automated Liquid Handling System Companies and their recent initiatives?

Discover Below the Details on Top 5 Manufacturers of Automated Liquid Handlers

Since the guidelines for pharmaceutical liquid handling are constantly evolving, particularly in the areas of digitalization, automation, and process transparency, the need for automated liquid handlers is growing. This article highlights five Automated Liquid Handling System Manufacturers to watch out for in 2023.  It is essential to note that the selection of top players can differ substantially according to the defined criteria(s).

Agilent Technologies, Develops Safe and Efficient Automated Microplate Washers and Dispensers that can be Integrated with Robotic Systems

1. Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies is a leading biotechnology research company engaged in the development of innovative laboratory solutions for environmental testing, academic research, medical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and food testing. Further, the company claims to work closely with its customers to address worldwide trends that have an influence on human health and the environment, in order to anticipate future scientific requirements.

Agilent Technologies: Company Details

Particulars Specifications
Company Logo Agilent - Automated Microplate Washers
Year of Establishment 1999
Number of Employees 10,001
Headquarters Agilent  - Headquarters
Type of Automated Liquid Handling System Automated Microplate Washers

 

The following table presents the details of one of the automated liquid handlers offered by Agilent Technologies.

Agilent Technologies: BioTek™ ELx405™

Parameters 

Details

Washing Technology

Ultrasonic

Type of Instrument by Assembly

Integrated Workstation

Compatible Microplates

  • Flat
  • U bottom
  • V bottom

Software

Liquid Handling Control™ Software

Compatible Labware

  • 96 Well Plates
  • 384 Well Plates

Application Areas

Molecular Biology

Applications

  • ELISA
  • Cell-based Assays
  • Bead Washing

End Users

Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries

 

In addition to the above product, the laboratory automation market segment of Agilent Technologies offers around 10 automated microplate washers, details for which are available in full report.

Recent Collaborations:

  • In December 2022, Fluid Management Systems and Agilent Technologies entered in to a collaboration for automatic sample preparation
  • In August 2022, Mytide Therapeutics partnered with Agilent Technologies for automation solutions of Mytide’s BioFab2 platform.


Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, is Undertaking Strategic Initiatives to Provide Best-in-Class Automation Products to its Clients 

2. Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Danaher, is a US-based company focused on delivering sophisticated instrument systems, reagents, and services to advance life science research across the globe. In addition, the company claims to offer a wide range of scalable liquid handling systems. As per the firm's website, its liquid handling systems can be used in next generation sequencing, cell-based assays, proteomics and genomics.

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences: Company Details

Particulars Specifications
Company Logo Beckman Coulter Life-Sciences - Automated Liquid Handling Systems
Year of Establishment 1935
Number of Employees 1,001-5,000
Headquarters Beckman Coulter Life Sciences - Headquarters
Type of Automated Liquid Handling System Automated Pipetting Systems

 

The following table presents the details of one of the automated liquid handlers offered by the Beckman Coulter Life Sciences.

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences: Echo® 525

Parameters 

Details

Pipetting Technology

Acoustic

Type of Instrument by Assembly

Integrated Workstation

Type of Instrument by Sophistication

NGS-Focused  System

Software

Echo Software

Compatible Labware

  • 96/384 Well Plates
  • 1,536 Well Plates

Applications

  • Genomics / Gene Synthesis
  • NGS Library Preparation
  • Sanger Sequencing Assay Set-up
  • Cell-based Assay
  • Cell Culture
  • High-throughput Workflow
  • Plate Reformatting
  • PCR / qPCR Setup
  • Assay Setup and Development

End Users

Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries

 

In addition to the above product, the laboratory automation market segment of the Beckman Coulter Lifesciences offers around 10 automated pipetting systems, details on which are available in full report.

Recent Collaborations:

  • In February 2023, Beckman Coulter LifeSciences signed a technology development agreement with SCIEX for the automation of Echo®.
  • In October 2022, Beckman Coulter LifeSciences entered into an application development agreement with Pillar Biosciences for the Biomek NGeniuS System.
  • In February 2022, Beckman Coulter LifeSciences entered into a collaboration with Illumina for development of technology for the Biomek NGeniuS liquid handler.


Eppendorf, a Leading Player in Pharmaceutical Consumables, is Offering Wide Array of Automated Pipetting Systems

3. Eppendorf

Eppendorf claims to be a leading life science company focused on providing services for liquid handling in laboratories, globally. The products offered by the company include pipettes, pipette tips, centrifuges, mixers and ultra-low temperature equipment. In addition to this, the products and services offered by the company are used in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and diagnostic laboratories. 

Eppendorf: Company Details

Particulars Specifications
Company Logo Eppendorf - Automated Liquid Handling Systems
Year of Establishment 1945
Number of Employees 1,001-5,000
Headquarters Eppendorf - Headquarters
Type of Automated Liquid Handling System Automated Pipetting Systems

 

The following table presents the details of one of the automated liquid handlers offered by Eppendorf.

Eppendorf: epMotion® 5075v

Parameters 

Details

Washing Technology

Free-jet

Type of Instrument by Assembly

Integrated Workstation

Type of Instrument by Sophistication

Pipetting Assisting Device

Additional Features

Barcode Identification

Software

epBlue Software

Compatible Labware

96/384 Well Plates

Applications

  • NGS Library Preparation
  • High-throughput Screening
  • ELISA
  • Cell-based Assays
  • PCR / qPCR Setup

End Users

Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries

 

In addition to the above product, the laboratory automation market segment of the Eppendorf offers over 10 automated pipetting systems, details on which are available in full report.

Recent Collaborations:

In August 2023, Takara Bio signed a co-marketing agreement for the automation of Takara Bio’s chemistries on Eppendorf epMotion® automation platforms.


Hamilton Robotics, is Continuously Launching More Products in Order to Advance Their Critical Network 

4. Hamilton Robotics

Hamilton Robotics is a US-based biotechnology research company offering a wide range of laboratory solutions, which include automated liquid handling workstations, precision measuring devices, process sensor and sample management systems. As per the firm’s website, its automated liquid handling workstations have the potential to offer reliable results for assays, ranging from low-throughput pipetting to high-throughput systems.

Hamilton Robotics: Company Details

Particulars Specifications
Company Logo Hamilton Robotics - Automated Liquid Handling Systems
Year of Establishment 1953
Number of Employees 501-1,000
Headquarters Agilent  - Headquarters
Type of Automated Liquid Handling System Automated Pipetting Systems

The following table presents the details of one of the automated liquid handlers offered by Hamilton Robotics.

Hamilton Robotics: Microlab STAR

Parameters 

Details

Pipetting Technology

Air Displacement

Type of Instrument by Assembly

Integrated Workstation

Type of Instrument by Sophistication

Highly Sophisticated System

Additional Features

  • Robotic Arm
  • Barcode Identification
  • Automated Tip Loading / Unloading

Software

  • VENUS Software
  • STARwatch Software

Compatible Labware

  • 96/384 Well Plates
  • 1,536 Well Plates

Applications

  • Genomics / Gene Synthesis
  • Proteomics
  • NGS Library Preparation
  • ELISA
  • Cell Culture
  • High-throughput Workflow
  • Plate Reformatting
  • Whole Genome Amplification
  • Assay Setup and Development
  • Serial dilution
  • Plate Replication

End Users

  • Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries
  • Academics and Government Research Institutes
  • Hospitals and Diagnostic Centers

 

In addition to the above product, the laboratory automation market segment of Hamilton Robotics offers around 5 automated pipetting systems, details on which are available in full report.

Recent Collaborations:

  • In November 2022, Hamilton Robotics acquired BioFluidiX, a Germany based company to enable precise dosing in addition to its automation platforms.
  • In September 2022, Hamilton Robotics collaborated with BioFluidica to bring advanced liquid biopsy capabilities to laboratories worldwide.
  • In February 2022, Hamilton Robotics collaborated with Artel to validate automated liquid handler performance integrity.


Thermo Fisher Scientific Claims to Offer Liquid Handling Solutions to Boost Research Efficiency

5. Thermo Fisher Scientific 

Thermo Fisher Scientific is a US-based pharmaceutical company dedicated to accelerating life sciences research by solving complex analytical challenges and developing innovative technologies for its clients. Additionally, the firm’s extensive liquid handling portfolio provides a wide range of tools with applications across life science research, clinical diagnostics and applied sciences.  

Thermo Fisher Scientific: Company Details

Particulars Specifications
Company Logo Thermo Fisher Scientific - Automated Liquid Handling Systems
Year of Establishment 1956
Number of Employees 10,001+
Headquarters Thermo Fisher Scientific - Headquarters

 

The following table presents the details of one of the automated liquid handlers offered by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Thermo Fisher Scientific: Wellwash™ Versa

Parameters 

Details

Washing Technology

Acoustic

Type of Instrument by Assembly

Stand-alone Workstation

Compatible Microplates

  • Flat
  • U bottom
  • C bottom

Compatible Labware

  • 96 Well Plates
  • 384 Well Plates

Applications

ELISA

End Users

  • Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries
  • Academics and Government Research Institutes

 

In addition to the above product, the laboratory automation market segment of Thermo Fisher Scientific offers around 5 automated microplate washers, details on which are available in full report.

Recent Collaborations:

  • In August 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific collaborated with Tecan for the utilization of technology in the Fluent workstation and Introspect software for automation.

What About Other Manufacturers and their Automated Liquid Handling Systems?

The above presentation features five manufacturers of automated liquid Handlers selected from a pool of over 125 players that we have compiled. If you're interested, you can download the Sample Report on this topic by Roots Analysis. For personalized assistance in identifying the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at sales@rootsanalysis.com

About Author

Nancy_Kapila

I am Nancy Kapila, an accomplished pharmaceutical consultant with a rich and diverse experience spanning more than 5 years. My educational background includes a Master's degree in Pharmaceutics (M.Pharm) from Panjab University, which has provided me with a solid foundation in understanding the intricate mechanisms of drugs and their interactions within the human body. Throughout my professional journey, I have had the privilege of working with various pharmaceutical companies, leveraging my expertise to provide valuable insights and strategic guidance. 

What sets me apart is my unwavering commitment to staying at the forefront of the ever-evolving pharmaceutical landscape. In an industry characterized by rapid advancements and dynamic changes, I make it a priority to remain well-informed about the latest developments, regulatory updates, and emerging trends. This continuous learning not only keeps me well-equipped to navigate the complexities of the field but also enables me to offer innovative solutions that drive client success. I am deeply fascinated by the potential of data analytics and its transformative impact on decision-making. By delving into data, I can identify patterns, trends, and opportunities that might otherwise remain hidden. This enables me to provide clients with evidence-based recommendations that optimize processes, enhance product development, and drive operational efficiency

My journey has been marked by a continuous quest for knowledge, an unrelenting passion for data-driven insights, and an unwavering commitment to guiding pharmaceutical companies towards success in an ever-changing world.

Nancy.Kapila@rootsanalysis.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-kapila-4336b4129/

Souce 1: https://www.agilent.com/en/product/clinical-microplate-instrumentation/clinical-automated-liquid-dispensing-handling/clinical-automated-microplate-washers-dispensers
Source 2: https://www.mybeckman.in/resources/technologies/automated-liquid-handling
Source 3: https://www.hamiltoncompany.com/automated-liquid-handling
Source 4: https://www.eppendorf.com/IN-en/applications/physiocare-ergonomics/physiocare-products/automated-pipetting/

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