WuXi Begins Construction on New Bio-Mfg. Facility

WuXi Biologics, a subsidiary of WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc., began construction on a new $150 million biologics manufacturing facility in Wuxi city. The new facility, to be completed by January 2017, will be among the largest mammalian cell culture manufacturing facilities using disposable bioreactors. The added capacity will support WuXi’s biologics manufacturing pipeline in the near term.
 
The facility will house fourteen 2000L disposable bioreactors for fed-batch cell culture and two 1000L bioreactors for perfusion runs. The facility will also run advanced continuous or semi-continuous manufacturing processes in addition to traditional fed-batch and perfusion modes. 
 
In August 2012, the company completed biologics clinical drug substance and drug product manufacturing facilities in Wuxi city, the first in China to meet cGMP standards of the U.S., the EU, and China.
 
“Investment in this state-of-the-art biologics commercial facility of the future is another milestone for WuXi Biologics,” said Dr. Ge Li, chairman and chief executive officer of WuXi PharmaTech. “This project continues to strengthen WuXi’s capabilities in integrated biologics discovery, development, and manufacturing services. We maintain the highest quality standards to expedite global development of biologics for both international clients and Chinese companies.”