InnoSuisse and Augmenticon fund AR-/MR-Technology Project

AUGMENTICON™ enters into a collaboration with the Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, D-CHAB at ETH-Zurich and the Institute of Interactive Technologies at FHNW-Windisch to develop AR & mixed reality tools to extend AUGMENTICON`s SHARE and ASSYST platform technology. The project is jointly funded by the Swiss Innovation Agency, Innosuisse, and AUGMENTICON™.

Zurich, Switzerland – AUGMENTICON™ a privately held technology company developing Augmented-/Mixed-Reality (AR-/MR)-tools for a cost-effective, high-quality manufacturing of (radio-)pharmaceuticals, announces the formation of a strategic, non-exclusive development partnership with the ETH-Zürich (Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, D-CHAB)) and the FHNW (Institute of Interactive Technologies – IIT) to expand functionalities and develop Tailored-Applications for AUGMENTICON`s SHARE- and ASSYST-platforms. The goals are to enhance technology transfer processes, improve manufacturing reliability, and further expand quality management/ auditing capabilities.

“Just-in-time” manufacturing and quality control of (radio-)pharmaceuticals, a key-element in this business area, does not tolerate human errors and requires equipment failures to be minimized. Stringent process-/equipment-monitoring and real-time feedback-features preventing operator errors and equipment failures are integral components of AUGMENTICON`s SHARE and ASSYST platforms. Next level applications / tools for such process control and documentation are the target of the project and are to be developed by the academic project partner, IIT. Requirement definition, continuous robustness testing and the implementation of routine application are performed in collaboration with the Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences at the ETHZ. The private-public partnership is supported by an R&D grant from the InnoSuisse (Swiss Agency for Innovation Funding). The major project goal is to further strengthen the Radiopharmacy industry’s capabilities to increase manufacturing process-reliability, quality-control & quality management excellence, as well as establish fully automated radiopharmaceutical process documentation.

“We are honored to be part of this exciting and forward-looking research project. Together with our partners, we are investigating ways in which Mixed Reality can sustainably improve the production of pharmaceuticals. We believe in it’s high potential and hope for a breakthrough by combining visual computing methods and intelligent embodied learning approaches.” – says Professor Doris Agotai, Head of IIT.

”We are excited to be part of this ambitious project together with the FHNW and AUGMENTICON™. The Center for Radiopharmaceutical Science (CRS) is a pioneer in translational, radiopharmaceutical research in Switzerland. CRS is always eager to develop, test and apply the newest technologies. We are convinced that with AUGMENTICON`s SHARE and ASSYST platforms and the experience and know-how of CRS we will change the way radiopharmaceuticals are developed and produced in the future.” – says Professor Roger Schibli, Head of Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, D-CHAB.

Matthias Friebe, Executive Managing Director of AUGMENTICON states: “We are thrilled to enter into this private/public development partnership to provide top-notch Industry-4.0 tools for the pharmaceutical industry. It is a privilege for us to work with the leading scientists in the field and to leverage on innovation made in Switzerland”.

About AUGMENTICON-SHARE/ASSYST – The AR-/MR supported technology enables a fully remote-controlled installation, repair, and maintenance support, reduced response-times, lower costs (e.g. travel & accommodation etc.), and full online documentation. Furthermore, the technology brings a high potential for online-training, thus helps to shorten training time, and ensures smooth radio-labeling w/o batch failures.

About FHNW-Windisch, Institute of Interactive Technologies (IIT) – The Institute of Interactive Technologies IIT is a multidisciplinary computer science institute with research focusing on UX Design & Development, Interactive Data Visualization, Visual Analytics and Immersive Technologies. Ongoing research projects explore among others novel mixed reality environments based on image recognition and multimodal interaction. http://www.fhnw.ch/technik/iit

About ETH-Zurich, The Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (CRS) – ETH Zurich belongs to the best universities in the world and is the leading university in continental Europe. In its role as a pioneering institution, it plays its part in ensuring that Switzerland will be able to hold its own on the global stage. The Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (CRS) is a joint endeavor between the ETH Zurich, the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), and the University Hospital Zurich. CRS is integral towards the success of a “bench-to-bedside” venture for radiopharmaceuticals, utilizing specific know-how, infrastructures and unique facilities at the ETH Zurich and PSI including a dedicated medical cyclotron and clean rooms for the aseptic preparation of radiopharmaceuticals.

About AUGMENTICON™ – AUGMENTICON GmbH, a driver in the application of novel INDUSTRY-4.0 solutions offers applications for the optimization of industrial radiopharmaceutical operations. The company, founded in 2019, is based in Glattbrugg/Switzerland and is developing and commercializing Augmented-/Mixed-Reality based tools for a fully remote-controlled manufacturing guidance, -control, and (GMP-)-documentation. It`s management has a combined 60+ years of expertise in the development, manufacturing, release, marketing, and commercialization of (radio-) pharmaceuticals. To learn more about AUGMENTICON please visit us at: https://www.augmenticon.ch.