SHANGHAI, April 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: WX), a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device R&D services company with operations in China and the United States, today announced that it has broken ground on a new facility in Philadelphia for the manufacture of cell therapies. The facility is expected to become operational in the second quarter of 2015. 

The new facility will consist of 45,000 square feet of clinical and commercial manufacturing space and will supplement WuXi's existing 16,000-square-foot cGMP cell therapy manufacturing facility. This expansion will support growing customer demand with single-source contract development and cGMP manufacture capabilities for allogeneic and autologous cell-based therapeutics. The new facility will be built using advanced modular design, with flexible clean room technology, disposable equipment, and microcarrier cell culture systems. 

Located in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the new facility will complement WuXi's existing facility and capabilities which include analytical chemistry, cell banking, cell characterization, molecular biology and lot release testing, thereby providing fully integrated services for cell therapies in Philadelphia.

"Cell therapies offer important treatment options, and WuXi is committed to bringing them to patients faster," said Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of PharmaTech.

For more information on WuXi's services in the manufacture of cell therapies, please visit http://www.wuxiapptec.com/bio_cgmpManufactureOfCellularTherapeutics.html.

About WuXi PharmaTech

WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX) 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 in shortening the cycle and lowering the cost of drug and medical device R&D.  The operating subsidiaries of WuXi PharmaTech are known as WuXi AppTec.

For more information, please contact:

Ronald Aldridge
Director of Investor Relations
+1 (201) 585-2048
ron_aldridge@wuxiapptec.com

Aaron Shi
Associate Director of Corporate Communications
+86-21-5046-4362
aaron_shi@wuxiapptec.com

SOURCE WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc.