Quantex Arc
Ltd Single-use Disposable Pump Technology Leaders

Although Quantex Arc Ltd’s journey began only in 2009, their rich history has today made them leaders in the drug delivery device space. It all started when a large pharmaceutical company asked PDD—a product innovation consultancy business—to design a new peristaltic pump with higher precision at lower cost. Dr Paul Pankhurst, then CEO of PDD, soon realized that using a peristaltic pumping principle simply would not meet the set requirements because he knew squeezing a piece of elastomeric tube could not deliver precise volumes. Achieving accuracy would require sensors and software compensation to linearize an inherently non-linear output. To solve this, PDD invented a fixed-displacement rotary pumping principle to achieve accurate flow without the need for software compensation. However, PDD’s customer preferred an improvement in existing technology over a potentially risky investment in something more revolutionary. Seeing the potential of this new fixed-displacement rotary mechanism, Dr Pankhurst spun off a new company, Quantex Arc, to commercialize this new pumping principle. The rest as they say is history.

Quantex has since matured the technology and grown to be a leader in single-use disposable pumps and now manufactures in high volume for many global companies in various market sectors, including food & beverage, industrial, and medical. “With innovation at heart, we continue to build on our experience to create new and improved pumps to deliver in areas where existing pump technologies are sub-optimal,” mentions Dr Pankhurst, CEO of Quantex Arc.

The Quantex pumps employ a unique positive displacement rotary action to transfer a fixed volume of fluid from inlet to outlet. This allows for accurate dosing from any primary container without software calibration, even when viscous fluids are pumped against high back pressures or when primed against high vacuum pressures.

Although there are other pumps in the market that have some of these attributes, the beauty of the Quantex pump is its simplicity. There is only one moving part, which means that the pump is extremely reliable, low-cost, and easy to control. Because the pumps are so inexpensive to manufacture, the pumps can be considered single-use and integrated in-line with the disposable drug pack and infusion set, which means no maintenance or calibration is required. This core technology is protected by 74 global patents and demonstrates itself in a portfolio of standard pumps that range from dosing 1 uL to flow rates of 100 L/hr.

The rotary displacement mechanism of the Quantex pump induces less shear stress on the fluid than standard peristaltic pumps, which means fewer damaged molecules. In addition, Quantex is exploring “non-fouling” coatings to prevent adhesion or interaction of the fluid with any of the pump surfaces. Quantex has also developed its Quantex 4C drug delivery IoT reference platform, which takes advantage of Quantex pumps’ unique features and provides a foundation to build a connected delivery device that is agnostic to primary container and infusion set while still allowing flexibility for drug-specific protocols and customization of the user interface and reporting. The system consists of a single-use pump and reusable pump driver device, which is programmed using a smartphone application that relays real-time infusion data to a web portal so patients’ home infusions can be monitored remotely.

Continuing to innovate and demonstrate use cases for the pumps creates an understanding in the market about the potential and unique benefits of the Quantex pump. “We like to showcase what is possible and make it as easy for anyone to adopt our pump technology into their equipment or use case, supporting with integration and bespoke pump design,” mentions Dr Pankhurst. To this end, Quantex continues to identify and expand into different markets in medical, food & beverage, consumer, and industrial. There are clinical and pilot studies planned for next year, which will help gain traction and adoption of the pumps for different applications. To support this rapid expansion, a purpose-built manufacturing facility is due for completion in 2020, complete with customized all-electric molding machines operating in a cleanroom, robotic validation of critical components, automated assembly in a class 7 cleanroom, and 100 percent testing of individually numbered pumps. “Aside from our Quantex 4C reference platform, we have some additional product innovation devices that also showcase the capability of our pumps whilst meeting needs in other sectors,” concludes Dr Pankhurst.