Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a leading global provid er of biological and chemical compound sample exploration and management solutions for the life sciences industry. We entered the life sciences market in 2011, leveraging our in-house precision automation and cryogenics capabilities that we were then applying in the semiconductor manufacturing market. This led us to provide solutions for automated ultra-cold storage. Since then, we have expanded our life sciences offerings through internal investments and through a series of acquisitions. We now support our customers from research and clinical development to commercialization with our sample management, automated storage, and genomic services expertise to help our customers bring impactful therapies to the market faster. We understand the importance of sample integrity and offer a broad portfolio of products and services supporting customers at every stage of the life cycle of samples, including procurement and sourcing, automated storage systems, genomic services and a multitude of sample consumables, informatics and data software, along with sample repository solutions, referred to as SRS. Our expertise, global footprint, and leadership positions enable us to be a trusted global partner to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life sciences research institutions. In total, we employ approximately 3,500 full-time employees, part-time employees and contingent workers worldwide as of September 30, 2023 and have sales in approximately 150 countries. We are headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts and have operations in North America, Asia and Europe.
Our Company was founded in 1978 and became a leading automation provider and partner to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry. We divested the last of our semiconductor businesses in February 2022 for $2.9 billion in cash and since operate solely as a life sciences company. On December 1, 2021, we changed our corporate name from “Brooks Automation, Inc.” to “Azenta, Inc.” and our common stock started to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “AZTA”. The semiconductor automation results are classified as discontinued operations, and, unless otherwise noted, the description of our business in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relates solely to our continuing operations.
Our portfolio includes product and service offerings developed by us internally, as well as through acquisitions, designed to bring together comprehensive capabilities to service our customers’ needs in sample exploration and management, automated storage, and genomic solutions. We continue to develop new product and service offerings and enhance existing and acquired offerings through the expertise of our research and development resources. We believe our acquisition, investment, and integration approach has allowed us to accelerate internal development and significantly accelerate time to market for our life sciences solutions.
For further information on our acquisitions, please refer to Note 4, Business Combinations to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Life Sciences Market
Our businesses serve a broad range of end markets within the life sciences industry to help our customers advance the development of therapies to improve people’s lives and cure diseases. With the advent of biologics and personalized
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medicine, biological samples have become critical assets to the success of drug and therapy pipelines, and the proper management and protection of these samples are of increased importance to our customers. We believe this trend has created a sizable market opportunity for us to provide comprehensive sample management and genomic solutions.
Since the successful mapping of the full human genome at the turn of this century, the market for genomic services has grown in support of research in biologic drug development, personalized medicine and cell and gene therapy (“CGT”). Top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and institutions can use their in-house laboratory resources to sequence millions of genes as part of their research workflow. Many companies and institutions, however, look to outsource all or a part of their gene sequencing to independent laboratories that provide expedited results and expert consultative services. We participate in this market as a value-added laboratory services provider, offering high quality genetic testing services with fast turnaround times.
We have approximately 13,000 customers globally and believe we are well positioned to expand our customer base. We serve top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the most advanced research hospitals performing clinical research and therapy development, as well as some of the newest and leading-edge start-ups in the biotech space. In addition, we also serve academic and government institutions. We believe that the sample-based services and products businesses will continue to demonstrate a growth trajectory and we do not observe cyclical demand for these offerings.
Segments
Our business is comprised of two reportable segments: Life Sciences Products and Life Sciences Services. For further information on our reportable and operating segments, please refer to Note 19, Segment and Geographic Information to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Life Sciences Products
Our Life Sciences Products business is a leading provider of automated cold storage solutions for biological and chemical compound samples. We have a complete line of automated storage systems from ambient temperatures to -190°C. Our sample management solutions include consumable vials and tubes, polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”), plates, instruments for supporting workflows, and informatics. This portfolio provides customers with a high level of sample quality, security, availability, intelligence, and integrity throughout the lifecycle of samples providing customers with complete end-to-end “cold-chain of custody” capabilities. On July 1, 2022, we acquired Barkey Holding GmbH and its subsidiaries (“Barkey”), a leading provider of controlled rate thawing devices for customers in the medical, biotech and pharmaceutical industries, headquartered in Leopoldshöhe, Germany. On October 3, 2022, we acquired B Medical Systems S.á r.l and its subsidiaries (“B Medical”), a market leader in temperature-controlled storage and transportation solutions that enable the delivery of life-saving treatments to more than 150 countries worldwide. This acquisition complements our cold-chain capabilities, adding differentiated solutions for reliable and traceable transport of temperature-sensitive samples. Additionally, on February 2, 2023, we acquired Ziath Ltd. and its subsidiaries (“Ziath”), a leading provider of 2D barcode readers for life sciences applications to complement our product offerings.
Life Sciences Products Offerings
The principal offerings of the Life Sciences Products segment include the following:
Automated cold storage solutions – includes stand-alone systems that store over 20 million samples in temperature ranges from ambient to -80°C to cryogenic storage at -190°C. Our automated storage systems have a unique design that allows controlled temperature storage down to -80°C with the industry’s highest throughput of sample retrieval. Our systems provide high throughput capability and optimized storage of multi-format tubes and plates while maintaining consistent temperature profiles across stored samples. We also offer a portfolio of service products designed to optimize productivity of our storage system offerings.
Consumables and instruments - includes a complete range of consumables, including multiple formats of racks, tubes, caps, plates and foils, which are used for storage and handling of samples in ambient and ultra-cold storage environments. A comprehensive range of instruments used for labeling, bar coding, capping, de-capping, auditing, sealing, peeling, and piercing tubes and plates complement our consumables. Our offerings include a range of products
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aimed at the genomic sample preparation and services market for PCR and sequencing, imaging, plate sealing, liquid handling, and sample processing.
Controlled rate thawing devices – includes a range of products for automated thawing of plasma, blood and stem cells as well as in CGT applications. Our products are used for controlled rate thawing of cryopreserved samples and therapies, and are used in research and development, clinical trials, good manufacturing practices and in the hospital setting. Our Barkey plasmatherm product is the only automated blood and plasma thawing device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) as a medical device for use in patient care.
Temperature-controlled storage and transportation solutions – includes temperature-controlled storage and transportation solutions that enable the delivery of life-saving treatments to more than 150 countries worldwide. Acquired through our B Medical acquisition, these products complement our cold-chain capabilities, adding differentiated solutions for reliable and traceable transport of temperature-sensitive samples.
Life Sciences Services
Our Life Sciences Services business is a leading provider of solutions addressing the many needs of customers in the area of genomic analysis and the management and care of biological samples used in pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, clinical, and academic research, and development markets. We process millions of samples annually, each containing valuable information that must be preserved with the sample. Our genomic services provide a broad capability to customers for gene sequencing, synthesis, editing and related services. We offer a comprehensive, global portfolio that we believe has both broad appeal in the life sciences industry and enables customers to select the best solution for their research and development challenges. This portfolio also offers unique solutions for key markets such as CGT, antibody development and biomarker discovery by addressing genomic complexity and throughput challenges. Our sample management services include off-site storage services, transport services, laboratory services, and interactive informatics solutions. We also offer expert-level consultation services to our clients throughout their experimental design and implementation processes. Our services also include short- and long-term sample storage and management of the “cold-chain of custody” from collection, to storage, to retrieving the sample which ultimately may go back into the research workflow.
Life Sciences Services Offerings
The principal offerings of the Life Sciences Services segment include the following:
Genomic services - includes gene sequencing and gene synthesis services, enabling the expanding research and development of gene-based healthcare discoveries and therapies. These service offerings include Next-Generation sequencing (“NGS”), Sanger sequencing, gene synthesis, bioinformatics, and good laboratory practices (“GLP”) regulatory services. The sequencing services are available with both standard and custom services for extraction, library preparation, sequencing, and bioinformatics, supported by Ph.D.-level project managers providing consultations, updates, and post-delivery assistance. Our gene synthesis offerings provide production of a wide range of sequence lengths and structural complexity, DNA cloning, gene fragment synthesis, oligo synthesis, and plasmid purification.
Sample repository solutions (SRS) - includes a complete range of services consisting of on-site and off-site sample storage, cold chain logistics, sample transport and collection relocation, bio-processing solutions (inclusive of sample preparation, and laboratory-based sample analysis), disaster recovery and business continuity, biospecimen procurement services, as well as project management and consulting. Our informatics solutions provides sample intelligence software solutions, and support laboratory workflow scheduling for life science tools and instrument work cells, sample inventory and logistics, environmental and temperature monitoring, clinical trial and consent management, and planning, data management, virtualization, and visualization of sample collections. We offer enhanced on-site and off-site management of biological sample inventories and integration solutions to our customers for their increasingly distributed workflows.
We believe the combination of our broad sample-based offerings, including genomic analysis, sample management solutions, automated storage systems, informatic solutions and sample sourcing and procurement services has enabled us to better serve our customers with an integrated and comprehensive portfolio of products and services across our segments.
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Sales, Marketing and Customer Support
Most of our sales are completed through our direct sales force, particularly our store systems, storage services, and genomic services. We supplement the sale of consumables and instruments with distributors that reach a broad range of customers. In regions with emerging Life Sciences industries, we leverage local distributors to assist with the sales process for automated stores, and utilize the capabilities of international procurement agencies, including UNICEF.
The sales process for our SRS and larger automated store systems takes months to complete and may involve a team from sales, marketing, and engineering. Sales of genomic services are generally generated with on-line orders from the customer laboratory and delivered to and from our customers using a courier service, with the simplest of genomics and synthesis requests completed in less than 24 hours and more complex projects within weeks.
Participation in trade shows, seminars, and industry forums are just a few of our marketing initiatives. We also produce and distribute sales brochures, webinars, and white papers, and we publish press releases and articles in business and industry publications. We maintain sales and service centers in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America to enhance support of, and communication with, customers.
We typically provide product warranties for a period of one to five years depending on the product type, with some warranties of up to ten years for our solar powered cold chain products, as they are connected to real-time monitoring services. Customer support capabilities include utilization of offsite technicians and in country support provided by local agents.
Competition
Given the breadth of the sample management solutions and genomic services offered by our Life Sciences Products and Life Sciences Services segments, we believe we have a unique portfolio of products and services. Each of the business lines within the two segments, however, has unique competitors in their area of offerings. In the Life Sciences Products segment, our main competitors include Hamilton Company and Liconic AG for automation systems, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. for consumables and services, and Vestfrost Solutions and Haier Biomedical for B Medical. In the Life Sciences Services segment, our main competitors include Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. for storage services, and BGI Genomics Co., Ltd., Eurofins, Scientific S.E., GenScript Biotech Corporation, Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., Novogene Co., Ltd., and Twist Bioscience Corporation for genomic services.
Research and Development
Our research and development efforts are focused on developing new products and enhancing the functionality, degree of integration, reliability and performance of our existing products and service offerings. Our engineering, marketing, operations, and management personnel leverage their close collaborative relationships with their counterparts in customer organizations to proactively identify market demands that help us refocus our research and development investments to match our customers’ demands.
Within our Life Sciences Products segment, we have developed and continue to develop automated biological sample storage solutions for operating in ultra-low temperature environments. We have a complete line up of automated stores from ambient temperatures to -190°C. Our automated storage systems offer improved data management and sample security for vaccines and biologics and have a unique design, which allows controlled temperature storage down to -80°C with the industry’s highest throughput of sample retrieval. Within our Life Sciences Services segment, our genomics services business advances research and development activities in gene sequencing, synthesis, editing, and related services to meet market demands. We invest in research and development to develop protocols and efficiencies in our own laboratories and to provide proprietary offerings to our customers. As an example, in our genomic services business, we enriched our portfolio by adding regulated services targeting analysis of adeno-associated virus, a common vector used in CGT. Furthermore, we continue to add value to drug discovery and development research by expanding our portfolio to include proteomics solutions. We will continue to focus on developing processes and technologies that can streamline sample to data workflows.
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Manufacturing and Services
Our manufacturing operations include product assembly, integration, and testing. We implement quality assurance procedures that include standard design practices, reliability testing and analysis, supplier and component selection procedures, vendor controls, manufacturing process controls, and service processes that ensure high-quality performance of our products. Our major manufacturing facilities are in Manchester and Wotton, United Kingdom, Hosingen, Luxembourg, and Billerica, Massachusetts. Our manufacturing operations are designed to provide high quality, optimal cost, differentiated products to our customers in short lead times through responsive and flexible processes and sourcing strategies. We utilize lean manufacturing techniques for a large portion of our manufacturing.
We have service and support locations near our customers to provide rapid response to their service needs. Our principal product service and support locations include Burlington, Massachusetts, and Manchester, United Kingdom.
We provide sample management storage and transportation services in Indianapolis and Plainfield, Indiana; Fresno, California; Cleveland, Ohio; Griesheim, Germany; Montreal, Canada; Singapore; Beijing, China and various locations throughout the United States. We have a network of 14 laboratories that provide genomic services, including eight in the United States, three in China, and one each in Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Patents and Proprietary Rights
We rely on patents, trade secret laws, confidentiality agreements and procedures, copyrights, trademarks and licensing agreements to protect our technology. Due to the rapid technological change that characterizes the life sciences and related process equipment industries, we believe that the improvement of existing technology, reliance upon trade secrets, unpatented proprietary know-how, and the development of new products may be as important as patent protection in establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage. Our policy is to require all employees to enter into proprietary information and nondisclosure agreements to protect trade secrets and know-how. We cannot guarantee that these efforts will meaningfully protect our trade secrets.
As of September 30, 2023, we owned approximately 94 issued U.S. patents, with various corresponding patents issued in foreign jurisdictions. We also had approximately 37 pending U.S. patent applications, with foreign counterparts of some of these applications having been filed or which may be filed at the appropriate time. Our patents will expire at various dates beginning in 2024 and running through 2039.
Environmental Matters and Government Regulations
Environmental Regulations
We are subject to various laws and governmental regulations concerning environmental matters and employee safety and health in the United States and other countries. Federal environmental legislation in the United States that affects us includes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. We are also subject to regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), concerning employee safety and health matters. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), OSHA, and other federal agencies have the authority to promulgate regulations that have an effect on our operations.
In addition to these federal laws and regulations, various states have been delegated certain authority under the federal statutes and have authority over these matters under state laws. Many state and local governments have adopted environmental and employee safety and health laws and regulations, some of which are similar to federal requirements.
Other Laws and Regulations
Our operations are also subject to other government regulations. While most of our products are not regulated, our acquisitions of Barkey and B Medical include certain products that are regulated by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
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Our businesses also include export and import activities, we are subject to pertinent laws enforced by the U.S. Departments of Commerce, State and Treasury. In addition, our logistics activities must comply with the rules and regulations of the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and similar foreign agencies.
We believe we are in compliance in all material respects with all applicable environmental, employee health and safety and other government regulations, and such compliance has not had, and is not expected to have, an adverse effect on our capital expenditures, competitive position, financial condition, or results of operations.
Human Capital
In total, we employ approximately 3,500 full-time employees, part-time employees and contingent workers worldwide as of September 30, 2023, primarily in the United States. We understand that our success depends on our highly talented associates, and our human capital management practices focus on attracting and retaining a diverse and engaged workforce.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion . We are committed to attracting, developing, and retaining diverse talent that is inclusive of every age, gender, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical capability, neurological difference, ethnicity, belief and perspective. Our goal is to develop cultural competency by seeking knowledge, increasing awareness, developing sensitivity, modeling respect and promoting inclusion and unity. Approximately 46% of our employees are gender diverse, and 42% of our U.S.-based employees identify as being racially diverse. Additional detail on our gender and racial diversity can be found on our website in our environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) governance reports.
Employee Engagement . We are committed to fostering a culture and environment where every employee feels valued. Our success depends in large part on our hiring and retaining top talent across the entire organization, with primary emphasis on our management team and our employees who interface directly with our customers. We compete for talent with other companies both smaller and larger, and both in our market and in other industries.
Compensation and Benefits. In order to attract and retain top talent, we focus on having a diverse, inclusive, and safe workplace, while offering competitive compensation, benefits, and health and wellness programs. A majority of employees also have incentive compensation opportunities, which are primarily focused on meeting financial, sales, operational, and/or customer focused metrics. In addition, our long-term equity compensation is intended to align management interests with those of our stockholders and to encourage the creation of long-term value.
Training and Development . We provide training and learning opportunities, rotational assignment opportunities, and continuous performance feedback to further our employee development. Our learning culture is built on: formal curriculums, communities of practice, peer-to-peer learning, experiential development, support tools and ongoing assessment. We listen to our employees to better understand their training and development needs, and ensure our offerings cater to both technical learning and leadership development. We offer a generous tuition reimbursement program that encourages employees to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in fields associated with their current or aspirational positions. In 2023, 21 employees were enrolled in this benefit with 33% being female.
Employee Health and Safety. Compliance with environmental, health and safety (“EH&S”) laws and regulations underlies the basis of the EH&S programs we have in place. As part of our EH&S programs, we:
● help build a culture of safety that emphasizes safe operations, procedures, behaviors, and attitudes
● provide compliance training on general safety principles and job-specific requirements
● equip employees to recognize and execute their responsibilities for safety through numerous training events
● provide appropriate personal protective equipment and training in the safe use of that equipment
● help ensure all employees are aware of their surroundings and that everyone works to maintain a safe workplace
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● hold recurring, monthly corporate-wide safety committee meetings for employees at all levels, including executive management
● encourage employees to conduct job hazard analysis with the purpose of recognizing workplace hazards and reducing risk
Purpose and Core Values . Our Company Purpose is to enable life sciences organizations around the world to bring impactful and breakthrough therapies to market – faster. We are committed to making sure that every team member understands our core values of Customer Focus, Achievement, Accountability, Teamwork, Employee Value, and Integrity. These core values are the foundation from which we act and base our decisions and are embodied in our Standards of Conduct, which outline our commitment to our customers, our investors, our communities, and to one another. Our Standards of Conduct also outline what is expected of our employees and ensure we continue to foster a culture of high integrity. We adhere to the governance requirements established by federal and state law, the SEC and the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and we strive to establish appropriate risk management methods and control procedures to adequately manage, monitor, and control the major risks we may face day to day.
Available Information
We file annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Our SEC filings are available to the public over the internet at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. We also maintain a website at www.azenta.com, through which you can access our SEC filings. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.