STA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a WuXi AppTec group company, is an open-access capability and technology platform for small molecule pharmaceutical development and manufacturing.
WuXi’s PDS division provides pre-formulation and formulation development as well as Clinical Trial Material (CTM) manufacturing, packaging, and labeling.
According to an STA spokesperson, “The merger has been designed to follow market trends for single source contract providers and so that we are able to offer a more complete and integrated platform for small molecule drug development services.”
The spokesperson added that there are a number of advantages of completing API and drug product work within one company and said the company anticipates good growth in this part of the business.
“It’s particularly beneficial for our early stage customers, which will now be able use STA for both API and drug product process development and manufacturing. The integrated CMC services will help to expedite their trials and the development cycles,” the spokesperson explained.
Integration is already complete and the company will increase headcount over the next 12 months as the new facilities become operational.
“We expect to begin taking on more integrated work with both API and clinical trial supply for early stage products. Then next year, as more projects progress we plan to be providing commercial finished drug product to our customer in addition to commercial API,” the spokesperson added.
In anticipation of a growing customer base, the company also has two facilities under construction in both Wuxi City and Shanghai.
The commercial-scale drug product manufacturing facilities are expected to become operational later this year and early next year.