The Future of Pharma? Robots.

This ability to multitask is a key differentiator for HighRes. Not only can their robots perform one action at a time, they can begin a second task, then combine both processes and evaluate the combinations.

Which gets us to their final and most groundbreaking achievement: modularity and mobility. Because not every job is the same and requiring a lab to bend their processes to accommodate a robots’ needs is problematic.

“Our key innovation isn’t just robots—which are, after all, just a tool—but a moldable setup that can be changed over time, to fit the moment,” says Hoffman. “Our technology allows scientists to design repeatable tasks in a circle, or cell, around their robots by changing the modules (think Legos arrayed in a circle) in concert with the needs of the experiment.”

These modules lock into place and are then measured to a thousandth of a millimeter in proximity to the robot along x, y, and z axes—so that the robot can reach, touch, sample, fill or move every object in the cell around it precisely. Novo Nordisk will have dozens of such cells processing thousands of biologic compounds every month in their new lab.

And the future? That will include robots that work even more closely with people. Some will be able to move freely around the laboratory. Others will consume even less floor space, resulting in a more integrated, human-robot interface where a scientist can seamlessly hand-off tasks.

That way, Hoffman says, “scientists can do science, and our robots can do things that enable the science.”