Agilent Technologies, Bayer Business Services To Integrate Agilent Networked Data Systems With Bbs Covin Instruments Logistics Solution
Agilent Technologies, Bayer Business Services To Integrate Agilent Networked Data Systems With Bbs Covin Instruments Logistics Solution
PALO ALTO, Calif., and LEVERKUSEN, Germany, December 16, 2003 — Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) and Bayer Business Services (BBS) today announced they will develop and market the integration of BBS’s COVIN Instruments logistics solution and Agilent’s networked data systems, including Agilent Cerity NDS for Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) and Agilent ChemStation.
The integration optimizes the pharmaceutical manufacturing and QA/QC workflow by providing an online link between the SAP R/3 quality management systems, chromatographic data systems and analytical devices. Users can now transfer information between the different systems directly instead of manually re-entering data. This agreement is expected to benefit analytical laboratories in a wide range of industries, specifically those that must comply with GxP, FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and related regulations.
The integration of the two companies’ solutions is facilitated by the open-systems architecture of Agilent’s networked data systems, which can seamlessly integrate with enterprise IT infrastructures.
BBS’s COVIN Instruments bridges the gap between the mySAP Product Lifecycle Management Quality Management (PLM QM) solution and the laboratory instrumentation level. COVIN Instruments eliminates the need for a separate laboratory information and management system (LIMS) by enabling mySAP PLM QM to provide full LIMS functionality.
Using an SAP-certified interface to QM-IDI, COVIN Instruments is designed to provide a work list of inspections to a client, depending on analytical method and instrumentation requirements. Raw quality-inspection data is collected from a wide range of instruments, managed, and archived in compliance with FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and ISO quality standards. After optional validation, measured and calculated end results are sent back to mySAP PLM QM to trigger subsequent actions in the logistic chain.
Agilent Cerity NDS for Pharmaceutical QA/QC is designed to meet the specific requirements of QA/QC labs in the pharmaceutical industry. It provides centralized management of chromatography data for labs from one instrument to several hundred instruments and many users. It reduces a lab’s operating and validation costs by accommodating the laboratory’s workflow and by facilitating compliance with FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and quality standards.
Agilent ChemStation is a family of networked data systems that provides modular software components for instrument control, data acquisition and data management, with the flexibility to meet both a lab’s present and future requirements. The ChemStation base software handles applications such as liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and capillary electrophoresis/mass spectrometry. It can be extended with add-on software modules for data organization and storage, remote control and monitoring, compliance with regulatory guidelines (21 CFR Part 11), and validation of analytical methods.
About Bayer Business Services
Bayer Business Services (BBS) is the Bayer Group’s competence center for business, administration and IT services. Offerings range from technical consultancy to the performance of business processes in several areas such as procurement, logistics, IT operations, training and development, or accounting. The company also groups together a number of subsidiaries providing catering, employee, hosting, travel and media services. Bayer Business Services currently employs 5,700 people. It will become a separate legal entity this month. Information about Bayer Business Services is available on the Web at www.bayerbbs.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements (including, without limitation, statements relating to Agilent’s and Bayer’s ability to develop and market the integration of Bayer’s COVIN Instruments solution with Agilent’s ChemStation and Cerity for Pharmaceutical QA/QC networked data systems; and the ability of the product integration to provide an online link between SAP R/3 quality management systems and analytical instruments in the laboratory) that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results of Agilent Technologies to differ materially from management’s current expectations. These risks are detailed in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31, 2002; its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 2003; and its Current Report on Form 8-K filed Nov. 18, 2003. The company assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company’s 29,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2003. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.
