WuXi AppTec To Invest $120 Million in Biologics Center
WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd., a contract service provider and technology platform company serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, has started construction of an integrated biologics solution center at the company's headquarters in Shanghai. The company plans to invest a total of $120 million in this dedicated, 250,000-square-foot facility, which will be operational in 2017 and accommodate 800 scientists. The facility will provide integrated solutions from ideas to the clinic for biologics discovery, development, and clinical manufacturing on a consolidated campus.
The biologics discovery center will use the OmniRat platform in collaboration with Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc., and in-house proprietary phage display libraries for discovery of conventional monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), bi-specific mAbs and antibody-drug conjugates. The biologics development center will use WuXi's proprietary Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line platform to develop fed-batch and perfusion processes. The co-located cGMP clinical manufacturing facilities will support four concurrent campaigns using 3 x 2000-L fed-batch and 2 x 500-L perfusion bioreactors.
Source: Wuxi AppTech