Dr. Ge Li Invited to Attend Drug Discovery & Development-Asian-Pacific Conference 2005 in Singapore

SHANGHAI, China, June 23 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of WuXi PharmaTech, was invited to attend Drug Discovery & Development-Asian-Pacific Conference 2005 hosted by Singapore on June 1-3, 2005. In the pharmaceutical industry, more and more international companies have realized although the major share of the pharmaceutical market is currently held by the US, Europe and Japan, the Asian market ex-Japan is growing enormously. Therefore, this grand conference was commented publicly as the ''gateway to Asia'', providing an opportunity for global research companies and pharmaceutical and biomedical companies not only to share insights into the logistics of operating in the Asia-Pacific region, but also to discuss licensing strategies and share collaboration experiences. The topic of this conference concentrated on strategies and Case Studies of Successful Alliances, Licensing and Outsourcing Partnerships.

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On the prospect of Creating and Managing new collaborative outsourcing paradigms in drug discovery as a key part of this conference, Dr. Ge Li and Dr. Richard M. Soll, Chief Scientific Officer R&D, TargeGen Inc. gave a well-received presentation focusing on their collaboration experiences from the viewpoint of a small chemistry company. TargeGen is a private San Diego based biopharmaceutical company that develops small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, especially inhibitors of the Src family of kinases, for the treatment of cancer, stroke and other major diseases by modulating angiogenesis and vascular permeability. Discovering and developing all current drug candidates internally, TargeGen has multi-faceted outsourcing needs in R&D, development and clinical areas. Dr. Soll explained some key considerations when TargeGen evaluates outsourcing agreements. For example, there are strategic and tactical factors (e.g., why, what, where, when, how), IP protection, good communication and project management, the ability to leverage and complement internal capabilities to capitalize on internal strength and productivity, well articulated expectations and deliverables. Particularly, TargeGen emphasizes on timeliness and cost control.

Dr. Soll and Dr. Li then elaborated on how the two companies found complementary skill sets in developing a lead compound from milligram scale to large quantity for clinical studies, and how the partnership evolved from simple project phase to a multi-project, team-spirited chemistry-oriented collaboration that is long-lasting, mutually beneficial, and quality driven. Through such a new collaborative outsourcing paradigm in drug discovery, TargeGen has capitalized on WuXi PharmaTech's chemistry services business model to augment and accelerate TargeGen's internal discovery and development programs in cancer and ocular disease in a sensible, cost-effective manner.

Dr. Li provided further background on WuXi PharmaTech, and emphasized his determination to making the company the number one in China's emerging pharmaceutical R&D service industry. In his presentation Ge Li also pointed out WuXi PharmaTech is able to provide a broad spectrum of high quality chemistry-based services to all customers.

About WuXi PharmaTech

Shanghai-based WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd. offers global pharmaceutical/ bio-pharmaceutical companies diverse outsourcing services in combinatorial, medicinal, synthetic chemistry and manufacturing. Importantly, it also allows them to take full advantage of the lower research costs in China. WuXi PharmaTech's rapidly expanding line of services ranges from early stage discovery chemistry through lead optimization chemistry, all the way to process research & development and bulk manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients. With the addition of a new GMP plant at Jinshan in Shanghai, WuXi PharmaTech has further increased its bulk production capacity to meet rapidly growing customer demand. WuXi PharmaTech's strong capabilities and impressive track record enable the Company to provide a broad spectrum of integrated development services from milligram to metric ton scaled active pharmaceutical ingredients, intermediates and raw materials. Currently, WuXi PharmaTech's client list includes over 60 leading drug discovery companies covering a majority of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.

For more information, please contact: Tiffany Zhang, PR Department, WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd. Tel: +86-21-5046-4003 Fax: +86-21-5046-1000 Email: zhang_jiuchun@pharmatechs.com Web: http://www.pharmatechs.comhttp://www.pharmatechs-us.comhttp://www.pharmatechs.com.cn

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CONTACT: Tiffany Zhang of WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd., +86-21-5046-4003, orfax +86-21-5046-1000, or zhang_jiuchun@pharmatechs.com