Kirby Lester celebrates 10 years

LAKE FOREST - September marks the 10-year anniversary since the Kirby Lester company was brought under the ownership and leadership of Garry Zage, R.Ph.

The purchase sparked a dramatic rejuvenation for the company that pioneered pharmacy automation in the 1970s.

Since 2005, when Mr. Zage took the helm, Kirby Lester has introduced six new products, including best-selling KL1 and KL1Plus counting devices and the Kirby Lester high-speed mail order cell. The company also entered the highly competitive robotic dispensing market with 60-drug and 100-drug robotic dispensing systems.

The company currently reaches more than 40,000 customers and sells in it 40 countries. It also established partnerships with three of the world's largest pharmacy providers: a retail pharmacy chain, a PBM and an integrated delivery network.

"Some battle-weary pharmacists have told me that the only thing that's remained reliable and steady in this era of constant change has been Kirby Lester. I take great pride in this company's ability to reinvent itself starting in 2005," said Zage.

"The old Kirby Lester devices that so many veteran pharmacists trusted are many miles behind us, literally and figuratively," he added. "I am proud to have ushered the respected 'Kirby Lester' name into a new era. We're taking high-efficiency dispensing to new levels of patient safety as well assisting the pharmacies in reducing their costs to fill prescriptions."

Zage received the highest honor from his alma mater, the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy, as their Alumnus of the Year in 2012. Zage also was selected to the college's National Advisory Board.