The company expects diluted EPS (earnings per share) for full-year 2013 to slightly exceed the top end of its previous guidance of $1.51-$1.55 (GAAP) and $1.73-$1.77 (non-GAAP).
Wuxi spokesman Ron Aldridge told Outsourcing-Pharma.com, “We have clinical-trial scale manufacturing facilities that provided us with modest revenues in 2013. Most of our biologics revenue in 2013 was from development projects that had not yet reached the manufacturing stage. We expect a more significant contribution from biologics manufacturing in 2014.”
Most recently the company has seen its revenue jump by about 10% as revenues for biologics services grew strongly in the second quarter. In its presentation at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco the company highlighted its rise from a chemistry-based company to one that now specializes in large scale and biologics manufacturing, including for at least one ADC.
With six sites in China and four in the US, the company seems poised to take a stranglehold on the market for businesses looking to launch products in China.
Wuxi also recently:
- Expanded small molecule manufacturing for six commercial and 10 Phase III drugs;
- Received FDA approval for the manufacture of Pharmacyclics’ ibrutinib*; and
- Installed its first set of 2000 L disposable bioreactors in Asia and completed the first 2000 L run using NSO cells.
“Our outperformance in 2013 mainly came from small-molecule manufacturing and biologics development, although all of our businesses performed well,” Aldridge told us.
Manufacturing is expected to represent about a quarter of the company’s 2013 revenue, which is an increase of about 2% over 2012. The company also says it’s expecting a “major” capacity expansion in 2014 and 2015.
The company plans to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2013 financial results and to provide 2014 financial guidance in March.
*Wuxi joins Catalent and Lonza on the list of contractors involved in the production of ibrutinib.