WuXi Biologics and WuXi STA to Establish WuXi XDC for Bioconjugate Development and Manufacturing

WuXi Biologics and WuXi STA, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, announced on May 14, 2021 that they have established a joint venture company named WuXi XDC to provide contract development and manufacturing of bioconjugates, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will make capital contributions of $120 million and $80 million to the new company, with WuXi Biologics owning 60% of the company and WuXi STA owning 40%, WuXi Biologics said in a company press release. Additionally, WuXi XDC will become a non-wholly owned subsidiary of WuXi Biologics.

“We’re excited about establishing WuXi XDC, a dedicated end-to-end bioconjugate CDMO [contract development and manufacturing organization], which will combine the world-class capacities and capabilities of both WuXi Biologics and WuXi STA to provide a superior one-stop service for global partners in an effort to expedite development and lower costs,” said Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics and chairman of WuXi XDC, in the press release.

“In the past years, WuXi STA worked closely with WuXi Biologics on ADC therapeutics as well as other novel bioconjugates to provide our customers an expedited development pathway,” said Minzhang Chen, CEO of WuXi STA, in the press release. “Now with the initiative of WuXi XDC, we will further combine industry leading resources from both WuXi STA and WuXi Biologics, empowering more partners with a further optimized bioconjugates development and manufacture platform to launch their novel therapeutics faster to market for the benefit of global patients.”

“I am very honored for the opportunity to lead WuXi XDC,” added Jimmy Li, WuXi XDC’s newly appointed CEO, in the press release. “By leveraging both the robust capacities and state-of-the-art technologies of WuXi Biologics and WuXi STA, WuXi XDC will further increase its unique presence in the bioconjugates industry to enable global partners as they build their innovative ideas into transformative new treatments for patients worldwide.”

Source: WuXi Biologics