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by Richard Daverman, PhD
ChinaBio Today



Rumors Resurface

Outsourcing powerhouse WuXi PharmaTech is rumored to be on the verge of announcing its IPO. The Shanghai-based company has been a huge success story right from the outset of its 2001 startup, now boasting 1,550 scientific staff members and over 2,000 employees overall.

In its CRO business, WuXi says it has established relationships with 19 out of the 20 top worldwide pharmas, and 8 out of the 10 largest biotechs. Its main facility is a 680,000 sq. ft. emplacement in the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone. Plus, it has established a 250,000 sq. ft. GMP manufacturing plant in Jinshan District, Shanghai, and, at the beginning of 2007, it started moving scientists into a newly constructed 130,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art research facility in Tianjin, just outside of Beijing.

As examples of WuXi’s relationships, the company extended its collaboration with Merck (MRK) in late 2006, taking the agreement, which started in 2003, out to 2010. No financial details were disclosed. In September of 2006, WuXi signed a $14 million two-year collaboration with AstraZeneca (AZN).

The company was founded by Dr. Ge Li, who is very much one of the class of Chinese “returnees.” He received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University, and went on to become one of the founding scientists in Pharmacopeia (PCOP), where he worked for 8 years. Pharmacopeia is a combinatorial chemistry company, and Dr. Ge was co-inventor on several patents involving medicinal and combinatorial chemistry for the company.

Ge’s interest in chemistry remains a focus for WuXi. The company provides services to support new drug discovery and the chemical development of new drug candidates, starting with discovery and working through the approval process until they are marketed.

WuXi PharmaTech has been named to several prestigious lists, including the Red Herring 100 Private Companies of Asia, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 China and the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asian Pacific.

Among other questions about the rumored IPO is: which exchange will WuXi choose for its listing?



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ChinaBio Today is a regular contributor to BioHealth Investor
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