WuXi PharmaTech and Open Monoclonal Technology Expand Human Antibody Development and Commercial Opportunities for Asian Regional and Global Pharmaceutical Companies SHANGHAI and PALO ALTO, Calif., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: WX), a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device R&D outsourcing company with operations in China and the United States, and Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT), an innovator in novel transgenic animals for development of human therapeutic antibodies, today announced a second agreement to expand WuXi's use of OMT's OmniRat™ and OmniMouse™ technologies to strengthen the development and commercial opportunities for WuXi's Asian regional and global clients. The OmniRat platform has now been duplicated at WuXi's Shanghai facility, enabling WuXi to generate antibodies for customers from its own laboratories. WuXi is the first and currently the only company authorized by OMT to host OmniRat in China. This transaction advances WuXi's goal of working with skilled partners to enhance the company's technologies and capabilities to better serve its customers.Under the new agreement, WuXi's clients can choose to develop and commercialize products globally or regionally in China, Korea, Japan or other Asian territories. Clients that opt for regional rights first can assume global rights prior to the first human dose. This is particularly attractive for companies that have already established regional Asian operations and have aspirations to become global later. OMT retains the global product rights until and unless each option is exercised."This new agreement allows WuXi to further expand its service offerings with the OmniRat and OmniMouse platforms," said Edward Hu, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of WuXi PharmaTech. "WuXi is proud of the confidence OMT has shown in the quality of WuXi's antibody research capabilities and intellectual property protection practices in authorizing WuXi to host the OmniRat and OmniMouse platforms in our laboratories."Dr. Roland Buelow, founder and CEO of OMT, continued, "This second agreement with WuXi continues the global deployment of OMT's human antibody technologies. The deal structure enables OMT to tap into the economics of rapidly growing Asian companies and, when global rights are not exercised by WuXi's clients, to leverage their data for OMT product development and/or partnering outside Asia."
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 with 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 help its global partners shorten the cycle and lower the cost of drug and medical device R&D. The operating subsidiaries of WuXi PharmaTech are known as WuXi AppTec.
About Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT) is a leader in genetic engineering of animals for the development of human therapeutic antibodies – "naturally optimized human antibodies™".OMT has created OmniRat™, the first fully human monoclonal antibody platform based on transgenic rats. OMT's genetic engineering is based on an improved understanding of B cell development and a new approach to inactivation of endogenous antibody expression, which enables OmniRat to make antibodies with human idiotypes as efficiently as wild type rats make normal antibodies. OmniRat represents a novel and proprietary technology with unrestricted development options for fully human monoclonal antibodies, available worldwide for all targets and indications.OMT also develops a transgenic mouse, OmniMouse™, to complement OmniRat and further increase epitope coverage in human antibody development.OmniAb™ integrates OMT's transgenic animal platforms, proven protein and DNA immunization and Gel-Encapsulated Microenvironment (GEM) deep antibody screening to enable fast and cost-efficient generation and identification of preferred human therapeutic antibody candidates.
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