| Type | Public (NYSE: WX) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Contract Research Organizations Pharmaceutical Biopharmaceutical |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Shanghai, China; facilities in China and USA |
| Key people | Chairman and CEO: Ge Li, PhD |
| Products | Laboratory services: *Biologics *Medical devices *Bioanalytical services Manufacturing services: *Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) *Cell banking services *Cellular therapeutics |
| Revenue | US$334.1 million USD (2010) |
| Net income | US$90.8 million USD (2010) |
| Employees | 4,522 (2011) – 4,082 in China, 440 in USA[1] |
| Website | www.wuxiapptec.com |
WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (Public, NYSE:WX) (pronounced WOO-shee) is a pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device research and development (R&D) outsourcing company headquartered in Shanghai, with operations in China and the United States. The company provides integrated laboratory and manufacturing services throughout the research and development process. WuXi acts as a contract researcher for nine out of ten of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers.[2]
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WuXi's founder, Dr. Ge Li, is known as a haigui (sea turtle), which is a pun on haiwaiguilai, meaning "returned from overseas". He earned his doctorate in organic chemistry from Columbia University, was a founder at Pharmacopeia, Inc. of Princeton, New Jersey, then returned to China to found WuXi PharmaTech. [3]
WuXi PharmaTech is the product of the merger in early 2008 of WuXi PharmaTech Inc., a chemistry-based company founded in China in 2000, and AppTec Laboratory Services Inc., a Minnesota company founded in 2001 with expertise in medical-device and biologics testing.
Since April 2008, the name of WuXi's China operations, WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd., has been changed to WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd.; and the name of its U.S. operations, AppTec Laboratory Services, Inc., changed to WuXi AppTec, Inc.[1]
In April 2010, Charles River Laboratories announced an agreement to acquire WuXi. The deal was later rejected by Charles River shareholders, resulting in a $30 million breakup fee being paid to WuXi.[4]
The primary operating subsidiaries of WuXi PharmaTech are incorporated under the WuXi AppTec name, after WuXi purchased Minnesota-based AppTec Laboratory Services in January 2008, for $151 million.[2] It was the largest Chinese takeover of a U.S. firm since the Lenovo Group purchased the former IBM personal computer division.[2]
The company has two segments: laboratory services and manufacturing services. Laboratory services (largely under the WuXi AppTec name) represent discovery and development services for pharmaceuticals, development and testing services for biotherapeutics and medical devices, and comprehensive toxicology services. According to the 2011 Form 20-F financial report from the company, the laboratory services segment generated 88% of the entire corporate revenues.[1]
Manufacturing services are offered for advanced intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs); cell banking services; and cGMP manufacturing for cellular therapeutics and tissue-based products. In 2011, WuXi began manufacturing the hepatitis C drug Telaprevir for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which a Morgan Stanley analyst noted sells "almost four times" Merck's product Boceprevir, which is one of the reasons WuXi raised guidance for the manufacturing business.[5][6] Founder of Vertex, Joshua Boger, said of the WuXi subsidiary's Telaprevir manufacturing plant in China, "There was not a single corner cut. You can eat off the floor."[7]
WuXi PharmaTech has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since August 9, 2007, and its American Depositary Shares trade under the symbol WX. The equity market capitalization of WuXi was over $120 million in August 2011. Total net revenue in 2010 was $334 million, and gross profit was nearly $128 million, an increase of 17.8% from the previous year.[1]
In August 2011, WuXi was reported as having the third-strongest relative performance gains in the Life Sciences Tools & Services industry.[8]
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