How two
life sciences
companies boosted
R&D productivity
during the pandemic

While some life sciences companies have dedicated resources to enhance facility operations, others have surprisingly—and unknowingly—relied on scientists and manufacturing leaders to complete this work. Your scientists play a crucial role in drug discovery, research and development (R&D), and improving the lives of patients; managing facilities only reduces their productivity.

Properly managing biopharma labs and manufacturing facilities requires special skills and acumen, the latest best practices and a depth of understanding that spans decades. Luckily, the right facilities management provider will possess all three while aligning with your business goals.

Maintaining the wrong equipment, in the wrong locations, with the wrong supplies and amenities will cost you more than you might think.

In the following examples, we’ll highlight how partnering with a third-party facilities management (FM) team helped two leading life sciences companies boost R&D productivity during the height of the covid-19 pandemic.

Triumph amidst disruption

With a mission to pioneer life-saving vaccines and therapies for rare diseases, a fast-growing biotech company knew they had to be hyper-focused on their core business and adding new products to their pipeline—not the management of their facilities. So, to give valuable time and peace of mind back to their scientists and R&D teams, the company leveraged the strength of their facilities management provider. This allowed their teams to extract as much efficiency as possible and increase speed to market.

Early during the pandemic, the FM provider helped this biotech innovator enhance facility security, add sophisticated health screenings and implement new technologies that streamlined employee work. After making breakthrough discoveries and gaining additional efficiency, the life sciences company needed to increase manufacturing of their life-saving vaccine. Their facilities and real estate provider helped lease and safely open two new buildings and added additional value by filling in gaps during the construction process, preparing the company for FDA inspection, and optimizing the fit and finish of their manufacturing space.

At the end of the day, the biotech company was able to accelerate their manufacturing schedule and successfully planned and executed the most rapid vaccine turnaround times the industry has seen.

Tackling maintenance–and uptime–through technology

Next, we have an industry-leading biotechnology company that wanted to reduce costs and heighten efficiency. Through a trusted and collaborative relationship with their FM provider, they adopted next-generation reliability-based maintenance, in which maintenance and repairs are implemented according to the condition of the equipment rather than by a fixed schedule. To ensure efficiency and accuracy, their facilities management provider was integral is assessing equipment condition. The facilities management team used sophisticated technologies like infrared scanning and vibration monitors to determine if the equipment could continue operating as is or would need preventative maintenance to avoid costly shutdowns.

Through this new approach, the company was able to improve equipment uptimes, as well as reduce maintenance costs by avoiding unnecessary repair or replacements. As a bonus, the company was able to shift their focus to manufacturing and getting to market faster, versus worrying about facilities operations.

Put a facilities management partnership to work for you

Streamlining and managing operations within biotech labs and facilities, whether performed in-house or outsourced, can be complex and challenging. And if you don’t invest in someone who understands the process–and your people–you can fundamentally and indirectly hurt your productivity and growth. Strict adherence to protocols, time investments and compliance requirements are just the tip of the iceberg into what it takes to run your lab efficiently.

To accelerate your science and create clean, safe and high-functioning environments, let the professionals take away your operational burdens and support you on your path to success.