WuXi Biologics Begins Construction of the World's Largest Mammalian Cell Culture Manufacturing Facility Using Disposable Bioreactors

WuXi Biologics, a wholly owned subsidiary of WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc., has announced that construction has begun on a new $150 million biologics manufacturing facility in Wuxi city.

When complete, this new facility will be the largest mammalian cell culture manufacturing facility using disposable bioreactors in the world. It will also be the largest biologics manufacturing facility of any kind in China. This added capacity will support WuXi's strong biologics manufacturing pipeline in the near term and enable WuXi to maintain its position as the premier biologics manufacturer in China as well as a leading player worldwide.

The new facility to be completed by January 2017 will house fourteen 2000-L disposable bioreactors for fed-batch cell culture and two 1000-L 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 already extensive biologics manufacturing capabilities. In August 2012, WuXi completed state-of-the-art biologics clinical drug substance and drug product manufacturing facilities in Wuxi city, the first in China that met cGMP standards of the US, the European Union (EU) and China. Since then, the facilities have ramped up quickly to produce clinical supplies for the US, EU, China and other markets. In March 2014, the drug substance facility received the honorable mention "facility-of-the-year" award by International Society For Professional Engineering (ISPE), a first for 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 CEO 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."