“WuXi and Lilly will co-develop the product through leveraging WuXi’s platform and domestic new drug development pathway for the China market,” Aaron Shi, a spokesman for the contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
Through its Product Development Service and Partnership (PDSP) unit, Wuxi will be responsible for the IND filing and product registration in China, as well as development and manufacturing activities, he continued, while Eli Lilly will commercialise the product.
The candidate itself was discovered by Lilly, and is a small molecule aimed at treating cardiovascular risk in patients with dyslipidemia, which WuXi says affects 276 million people in China.
Both companies have pledged to invest in the development of this product but have not disclosed financial terms of the deal.
“This unique collaboration is part of our ’In China, For China’ strategy to leverage Lilly’s leading technology and experience, and local partners’ insight and expertise, to meet patient needs,” said Andrew Hodge, President of Lilly China.
PDSP
The PDSP unit was set up to help clients bring innovations through the product development process for regulatory approval in China and according to Shi encourages new drugs to be developed within China more cost effectively.
“WuXi is dedicated to building an open-access capability platform to enable anyone and any company to discover and develop new medicines and healthcare products more efficiently and cost effectively,” Shi said.
“Collaborations like this allow our clients and partners to fully leverage the WuXi platform and develop innovative drugs for the Chinese market faster and more efficiently under the current Chinese regulatory system.”