With the cutting of a ribbon more than 200 new jobs are expected to be created as China-based WuXi AppTec officially opened its expanded Laboratory Testing Division (LTD) facility in New Jersey.
The new 115,000 square-foot facility is expected the enhance WuXi’s integrated testing service portfolio enabling drug developers to accelerate their projects from labs to patients. The company said its new expansion makes the New Jersey site one of the largest laboratories for preclinical and clinical drug development testing in the United States.
Shanghai-based WuXi AppTec said the new site in New Jersey will “establish a center of excellence” for drug development and provide high-quality services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in the United States. To fill the 200 new jobs WuXi said it will recruit in the area in order to further contribute to the local economy.
The Laboratory Testing Division is a comprehensive and integrated testing platform for drug and medical device development. The LTD provides in vivo and in vitro assays from early screening through clinical sample analysis. Medical device testing is also accomplished on site.
Jason Lin, chief operating officer of the new WuXi LTD facility, said the expansion will allow the company to “deliver high-quality service with faster turnaround times.” Lin also said the expanded capabilities of the site will better leverage the resources and expertise of the local pharmaceutical and biotechnology community and help the company develop a stronger connection with its customers.
“We are delighted for this opportunity to better serve our global customers and to support local economic development in New Jersey,” Ge Li, chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec. “We will continue to enhance WuXi’s capabilities and capacities to enable our global partners to discover and develop drugs more efficiently and cost-effectively ultimately benefitting patients worldwide.”
In addition to its New Jersey facility, WuXi AppTec also has sites in Philadelphia, Minnesota, Atlanta, San Diego and Boston. The company also has a strong international presence with facilities in Germany, Israel, South Korea and Japan.
Last year WuXi formed a partnership with Seattle-based Juno Therapeutics to develop treatments for cancer with the formation of a new Chinese company called JW Biotechnology Co., Ltd. The new company’s mission will be to build a cell therapy company in China through using Juno’s chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) technologies in combination with WuXi AppTec’s R&D and manufacturing platform. In March the new company raised $90 million in Series A financing to support clinical development of CD19-directed compound, JWCAR029, a CAR-T therapy for B-cell malignancies.
With more than 3,000 life science companies in New Jersey, the state is a popular spot for the biotech industry. Earlier this year Celgene announced plans to open a 16,000 square-foot biopharma incubator on its corporate campus in New Jersey. In addition to Celgene’s new incubator, a former Roche facility in New Jersey will find new life as a campus for biotech and life science companies.
Source: Biospace
