Helping Biopharma Focus on High-Value R&D
Avantor’s Boston-area Centralized Service Center
There are thousands of biotech, start-up, and pharma companies in greater Boston, making lab and research spaces costly and in high demand. The challenge for many of these companies becomes how to prioritize the critical, high-risk, high-return work that characterizes biopharma innovation. At the same time, essential support work such as autoclaving, glass washing, and buffer preparation continues to demand valuable time and space.
To address this growing challenge, Avantor recently launched its Centralized Service Center (CSC) in Watertown, MA, a laboratory services outsourcing hub for Boston-area R&D companies.
Consistent, high-standard execution of critical lab support functions
Offerings at Avantor’s centralized, secure facility include autoclaving, glassware washing, media and buffer preparation, sample prep and scalable storage — all managed offsite by Avantor’s professional lab support specialists.
“Avantor’s Watertown Centralized Service Center minimizes the burden on biotech and biopharma scientists by offsetting their ordering responsibilities, conserving lab space, carrying out basic scientific tasks, and reducing non-core activities in the lab,” said Rene Mireles, VP for Customer Development with Avantor’s Lab Services business. The site also supports academic institutions as well as adjacent R&D sectors, including the medical technology, industrial and advanced materials industries.
Real-time visibility and control over lab operations
The newly established CSC leverages Avantor’s best practices in lab and production services, as well as cutting-edge digital tools to deliver indoor asset tracking, environmental monitoring, and inventory management. “Our on-site resources manage inventory and equipment with real-time alerts for temperature, humidity, vibration and leaks," said Mireles. "That means the products arrive at research labs in the optimal condition to support workflows uninterrupted.”
The site is designed to serve established biotech and biopharma companies that require off-site lab services support, as well as start-ups seeking shorter-term logistics and lab support services.
Solutions customized to meet business needs
A portion of Avantor’s CSC was designed to meet the local lab needs of global biopharma company GSK. “We developed a 10,000-square-foot tailored solution to serve GSK’s unique Boston area footprint — which includes three regional sites and more than 300 R&D scientists,” Mireles said. “The remaining space will be customized for additional customers, and there is room to expand as well.”
Avantor’s CSC lab specialists will be undertaking all of GSK’s Boston-area buffer and media prep, chemical management, freezer management, glassware washing and consumables. Materials are picked up, packed and delivered locally along daily routes serving a 30-mile radius of Greater Boston and Cambridge.
“This partnership enables GSK to prioritize ongoing scientific research and further scientific discoveries while ensuring the required supporting lab functions are seamlessly executed,” Mireles said.
Learn more about the Watertown CSC