To be completed by January 2017, the new facility will also be the largest biologics manufacturing facility in China. This added capacity will support WuXi's biologics manufacturing pipeline in the near term.
The new facility will house fourteen 2000L disposable bioreactors for fed-batch cell culture and two 1000L bioreactors for perfusion runs. The facility will also be built to run advanced continuous or semi-continuous manufacturing processes in addition to traditional fed-batch and perfusion modes.
This facility further expands WuXi's biologics manufacturing capabilities, which also includes biologics clinical drug substance and drug product manufacturing facilities in Wuxi city, which meet cGMP standards of the US, EU and China.
Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of WuXi PharmaTech, who recently put forth a bid to take the contract developer and manufacturer private, noted: "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."