WuXi aims to beat rivals on price

WuXi PharmaTech, a Chinese drug-research company that provides scientists-for-hire to conduct research and development (R&D), hopes to become a global player in the next five to 10 years, a corporate executive said yesterday.

The Shanghai-based company said it will do so by expanding into biotech, safety evaluation and manufacturing, thereby providing an array of outsourcing services that are cheaper yet of equal quality to their foreign counterparts.

"The majority of our clients are big international firms, with Pfizer and Merck ranking as the top two. As business expands, we want to win more clients, big or small, and get more orders from current customers," said Edward Hu, chief operating officer of WuXi PharmaTech.