SALT LAKE CITY — In spite of the ominous vibe of its name, Utah tech companyis not an omnipotent corporate villain from TV or the movies, a la Terrell Corporation, Cyberdyne Systems or Mr. Robot's E Corp.
But under the leadership of CEO Jon Beckstrand, who's held the top position since shortly after his father acquired the company in the early 2000s, MasterControl pivoted to developing software-as-service solutions for quality control processes for life sciences companies. And, about five years ago, Beckstrand said MasterControl launched an effort to expand its platform into the arena of manufacturing processes for its growing life sciences/pharmaceutical industry client base.
"I think it's really easy to see that health care product companies have a critical need for a very high quality in manufacturing," Beckstrand said. "In order to do that, you have to have a really well-documented and well-governed process. And our software streamlines all of those requirements." The company says the new funding will accelerate its product development efforts and enable more focus on building technology that will predict and prevent quality events, and enable true artificial intelligence-assisted manufacturing optimization.
Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics, which became one of the world's first genomics-focused companies in the world when it launched in 1991, is a long-time client of MasterControl and uses the software platform across its genetic diagnostics and precision medicine business. Pew said Myriad expanded its use of MasterControl software after the company entered into a partnership with pharma giant Astra-Zeneca for ovarian cancer diagnostics and treatment. That alliance raised the bar for FDA oversight of the work being conducted in Myriad facilities and to keep up with new duties, Pew said Myriad turned to MasterControl.