WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd. Expands Collaboration With AstraZeneca PLC

SHANGHAI, China, June 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- WuXi PharmaTech , a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device research and development outsourcing company with operations in China and the United States, announced today that it has signed a new three-year collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040705/CNM002LOGO )

In April 2006, WuXi PharmaTech and AstraZeneca entered into a two-year US$14 million collaboration agreement that WuXi PharmaTech successfully delivered more than 100,000 compounds two months ahead of schedule.

“This new collaboration agreement further strengthens our already productive relationship with AstraZeneca, and it is the direct result of our research capability and firm commitment to quality and customer satisfaction,” commented Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WuXi PharmaTech, “We are hopeful that with our strong and growing drug R&D capabilities the expansion of our collaboration will help AstraZeneca achieve its strategic goals.”

Under the new collaboration agreement WuXi PharmaTech will synthesize compounds, according to AstraZeneca’s designs, which will further expand AstraZeneca’s global compound collection.

“The collaboration with WuXi PharmaTech has exceeded our expectations delivering value to AstraZeneca beyond the cost savings in labor and materials,” said Deborah Hartman, Vice President, Lead Generation Discovery Enabling Capabilities and Sciences (DECS), AstraZeneca, “We are looking forward to the prospect of building on this success through our expanded relationship.”

High Throughput Screening remains a major source of chemical starting points, making it important to generate many high quality compounds with the proper purity and targeted characteristics. WuXi PharmaTech has developed an innovative, scalable and high through put library compound synthesis and purification process with an annual capacity of one million compounds. Other lead generation services provided by the company include designing and synthesizing libraries, as well as templates for library synthesis, benchmark compound synthesis and custom synthesis.

About WuXi PharmaTech

WuXi PharmaTech is a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device R&D outsourcing company, with operations in China and the United States. As a research-driven and customer-focused company, WuXi PharmaTech provides pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies a broad and integrated portfolio of laboratory and manufacturing services throughout the drug and medical device R&D process. WuXi PharmaTech’s services are designed to assist its global partners in shortening the cycle and lowering the cost of drug and medical device R&D. For more information, please visit: http://www.wuxipharmatech.com .

CONTACT: Sherry Shao of WuXi PharmaTech, +86-21-5046-4002, or
pr@pharmatechs.com

Web site: http://www.wuxipharmatech.com/

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