PerkinElmer has completed its acquisition of Cork-based manufacturing automation and GMP IT specialist SimoTech, a deal first announced on 11 August, giving pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers a single provider spanning physical manufacturing infrastructure and the digital systems that control it.

The acquisition 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 for advancing manufacturing and technical operations for the world's leading life science companies.

PerkinElmer said the combination is intended to support customers across the drug development and manufacturing lifecycle, from project planning through to manufacturing operations, by pairing SimoTech's automation and IT capabilities with Project Farma's expertise in commissioning, qualification, validation and regulatory compliance.

SimoTech, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Cork, provides automation and manufacturing technology services to the biopharma industry, working with pharma and biotech manufacturers on distributed control systems, manufacturing execution systems, programmable logic controllers, SCADA, data historians and GMP IT systems; the company supports half of the world's top 20 pharma and biotech companies.

PerkinElmer, headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut and owned by private equity firm New Mountain Capital, provides pharmaceutical services spanning laboratory operations, manufacturing engineering and technical operations for life sciences companies.

Michael Stubblefield, CEO of PerkinElmer, said the combination creates a significant opportunity to build a differentiated, scaled platform for pharmaceutical services, adding: "We are excited to welcome SimoTech's exceptional team to the PerkinElmer family." Anshul Mangal, president of PerkinElmer's Pharma Specialty Services business, said the combined capabilities could help pharmaceutical companies reduce time to market while supporting both manufacturing infrastructure and the digital systems underpinning operations.

The deal reflects growing convergence of engineering, automation, IT and compliance requirements within pharmaceutical manufacturing, as drugmakers integrate digital technologies into increasingly complex production environments.

The timing tracks steady growth in pharmaceutical manufacturing execution systems, forecast to expand from $2.51bn in 2026 to $4.02bn by 2031, as regulatory pressure and Pharma 4.0 adoption drive investment in validated digital manufacturing platforms.

For the sector, the deal signals continued roll-up of specialist automation and GMP IT providers into larger pharma services platforms, rather than pharma manufacturers building this capability in-house.

Source: Manufacturing Chemist / GlobeNewswire / Mordor Intelligence