Singapore: WuXi PharmaTech, an R&D outsourcing company with operations in China and the US, and Open Monoclonal Technology (OMT), an innovator in novel transgenic animals for development of human therapeutic antibodies, are expanding WuXi's use of OMT's OmniRat and OmniMouse technologies. The aim is to strengthen the development and commercial opportunities for WuXi's Asian regional and global clients.

OmniRat platform has 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. 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 Mr 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, added, "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."