Cognizant said it has agreed to acquire Zenith Technologies, a privately-held life sciences manufacturing technology services company headquartered in Cork, Ireland. Zenith specializes in implementing digital technologies to manage, control and optimize drug and medical device production for maximum operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.
The acquisition extends Cognizant's capabilities for designing, implementing and managing end-to-end operational and information technology systems for connected biopharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, says Brian Humphries, CEO of Cognizant.
Interconnected "smart factories" have become a strategic priority for the industry, with production systems and processes becoming more complex because of research advances and increased demand for large-molecule biologics, he says.
The combined Cognizant-Zenith Technologies expertise will deliver a range of Industry 4.0 capabilities, from factory design consultation, machine sensor and controller instrumentation, supervisory control, and data acquisition, to manufacturing execution systems, batch automation, enterprise resource planning integration and managed services, Humphries says.
"Industry 4.0 solutions, encompassing Internet of Things (IoT), automation and analytics, are a strategic focus area for Cognizant," he says. "In acquiring Zenith Technologies, we expand Cognizant's IoT portfolio and extend our life sciences domain expertise by becoming a single-source provider of end-to-end smart factory capabilities. Together, we are better positioned to help clients realize information and operational technology convergence in their manufacturing operations, and advance the development of life-saving drugs, biologics, specialized pharmaceuticals and medical devices. We look forward to welcoming Zenith Technologies' employees to Cognizant."
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019, subject to satisfaction of closing conditions, including regulatory review. Financial details were not disclosed.
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