1 December 2008 – New laboratory automation product offering complements existing Olympus product range
Hamburg, 1 December 2008: Olympus Life Science Europa has signed an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific for open-track automation for clinical laboratories. The new product offering will complement existing Olympus Laboratory Automation products, including the OLA2500 peri-analytical automation system.
The agreement between the companies will allow laboratory professionals to consolidate Olympus AU-series clinical chemistry and immunoassay analysers, including various third-party analysers.
The open track-based system will offer medium to large sized hospital and private laboratories flexibility and access to additional test capabilities. It will also allow customers to consolidate and automate sample processing procedures, such as decapping, centrifugation, aliquoting, recapping and storage/retrieval, currently in development.
The agreement gives Olympus the right to distribute Thermo Fisher’s TC Automation product line, a fully featured, track-based laboratory automation product line, in Europe. Olympus will handle sales and marketing and provide primary level service and support of the automation products.
Key benefits of laboratory automation include more efficient sample management, improved laboratory services and shortened turnaround times. By automating the main pre-analytical steps, such as centrifugation, decapping, aliquoting and sorting, TC Automation helps to manage current and future workloads; it interfaces with Olympus systems plus a wide selection of third-party instruments.
“This agreement is a perfect fit with our ongoing strategy for ensuring efficient workflows and maximising on throughput, whatever the size of laboratory,” explained Dr. Robert Hecht, Managing Director at Olympus Diagnostics. “The TC Automation complements Olympus’ product range and strategy to provide best in class automation solutions, offering standalone automation with the OLA2500 and consolidation with the AU-CONNECTOR, and now with the added option of open-track TC Automation.”