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Pharmaceutical insider: Drug discovery pace to slow down
A pharmaceutical expert said that China will become the center of outsourced chemistry services and will play a bigger role in the global drug discovery process.
Dr Ge Li, chairman and CEO of WuXi PharmaTech's Chairman and CEO, made these remarks at the recent Pharmaceutical R&D International Forum in Beijing. Li's speech forcused on China's increasing presence as a center for outsourced chemistry services in the global drug discovery marketplace.
Representatives from world pharmaceutical giants as Merck, Pfizer and Schering-Plough attended the forum.
Li noted that the cost to develop a novel drug is more than US$800 million (6.5 billion Renminbi yuan), a level which most other countries in the world cannot afford. As a result of high costs, he expects the pace of drug discovery to slow.
Pharmaceutical companies in the West continue to search for a long-term strategy to lower these costs. The industry will face formidable challenges in the future in the form of increased generic competition and Medicare reform among others.
Li said he believes drug discovery will see more international joint efforts, where various countries contribute different expertise and skill-sets. This trend is beginning to accelerate as a rising number of companies from around the world are now offering a variety of services to drug discovery companies. In particular, 'off-shoring' or outsourcing to lower cost countries such as India, China, and the former Soviet Union republics is accelerating.
China is an ideal provider to meet the increased demand for pharmaceutical outsourcing because of its low cost, highly skilled workforce, Li said.
"WuXi PharmaTech, as China's leading chemistry outsourcing provider, is focused on serving our global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical partners in their drug discovery and development processes as well as helping our partners to bring new drugs to the global market, and in particular, to China," Li said.
"WuXi PharmaTech's business is growing rapidly due to the company's high quality chemistry services and strong R&D capability. Our team of more than 260 scientists serves 60 international customers, including 14 of the top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and 8 of the top 10 biotech companies. WuXi's success further demonstrates China's viability as a provider of drug discovery services to the world market," he said.
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 and 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.
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