WuXi PharmaTech Acquires NextCODE Health
WuXi PharmaTech, a R&D capability and technology platform company with operations in China and the United States, has acquired NextCODE Health, a genomic analysis and bioinformatics company with operations in the United States and Iceland, for $65 million in cash. WuXi plans to merge NextCODE Health and WuXi’s Genome Center into a new company to be named WuXi NextCODE Genomics. The business will be headquartered in Shanghai, with operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Reykjavik, Iceland. The leadership of WuXi NextCODE Genomics will include Dr. Ge Li as chief executive officer, Edward Hu as chief financial officer, Hannes Smarason as chief operating officer, Dr. Jeffrey Gulcher as chief scientific officer, Dr. Hongye Sun as chief technology officer, and Dr. Hakon Gudbjartsson as vice president of informatics.
NextCODE Health was spun out from deCODE genetics after the latter was acquired by Amgen in December 2012. Founded in 1996, deCODE genetics specializes in analyzing and understanding the links between the genome and disease susceptibility. Using its expertise and population resources in Iceland, deCODE genetics has discovered genetic risk factors for dozens of diseases ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer. In October 2013, NextCODE Health announced that it had obtained from Amgen a five-year exclusive license for sequence-based clinical diagnostic applications using technology developed by deCODE genetics. The WuXi Genome Center was established in 2011 to provide sequencing solutions to academics, the life science industry, and medical institutions to advance personalized medicine.
In other news, WuXi PharmaTech has launched WuXi V-Lab, a mobile app available to the global research community in need of small-molecule compound synthesis. WuXi V-Lab allows customers to request organic compound synthesis through a mobile device with ease, speed, and flexibility. The application provides online functions for inquiry, quotation, order confirmation, project tracking, delivery confirmation, and payment.
Source: WuXi PharmaTech (mobile app) and WuXi PharmaTech (NextCODE)