ATS receives a US $3.8 million order for a manufacturing system for new drug delivery technology

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc.has announced it has received a US $3.8 million (CDN $5.0 million) order from one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to provide a manufacturing system for a new drug delivery technology.

The assignment - to be completed in early 2005 - makes use of a range of ATS capabilities including assembly, material handling, drug filling, testing, inspection and packaging technologies. All of these capabilities, as well as ATS's extensive technology integration skills, project management expertise, and successful track record on previous assignments with other divisions of the same customer were cited by the customer as the reasons they selected ATS.

"The pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing markets for automated manufacturing solutions and ATS is rapidly becoming the first choice in automation," said Klaus Woerner, President and Chief Executive Officer of ATS. "This order is strategically significant for us because it's in the field of drug delivery devices, a rapidly developing area within pharma and it's for a long-term customer - one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. This customer has once again shown its confidence in ATS by awarding us this important high profile project in another of their key operating divisions."

Mr. Woerner added that ATS is "well positioned to address the challenges associated with high volume manufacture of many new drug delivery devices. In addition to our full range of automation capabilities, these applications can benefit from our substantial experience in several specialized fields, including vision inspection, aseptic processing and assembly to enable efficient and reliable manufacture of a range of drug delivery devices."