Wuxi works with Mayo Clinic to expand PDX mouse model collection

06-Nov-2013 - Last updated on 06-Nov-2013 at 09:00 GMT

Wuxi is expanding its collection of mouse models thanks to the Mayo Clinic

Wuxi Pharmatech has agreed to licence patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models from the Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine.

The exclusive licence will allow Wuxi to expand its collection of more than 500 Chinese PDX models. The models support biopharma companies’ cancer drug discovery and personalized medicine efforts and more than 220 of them have been deep-sequenced using whole exome sequencing at 100X.

Wuxi spokesman Ron Aldridge told Outsourcing-pharma.com that the company does not have permission from the Mayo Clinic to reveal how many of the models will be added to the company’s collection.

“Many of our customers ask us for PDX models in Western patients as well so they can know the efficacy of the products they are discovering and developing in both sets of patients. Now we will have both,” Aldridge said.

The models are designed “for a range of cancers,” though Aldridge said Wuxi does not “have permission from the Mayo Clinic to disclose which ones.”

Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine said in a statement, "We hope use of these models leads to more predictive approaches to the discovery and development of personalized cancer therapies for patients."

Disposable Bioreactor Additions

Meanwhile, Wuxi also announced that it completed a cell culture expansion including two 2000L disposable bioreactors ready for cGMP manufacturing.

Wuxi now operates the largest biologics facility with disposable bioreactors in China and the largest disposable bioreactor in the world, the company claims.

WuXi AppTec also recently announced completion of the first run of the 2000L disposable bioreactor using an NS0 mouse myeloma cell line for TaiMed Biologics' ibalizumab, a novel CD4 entry inhibitor for the treatment of HIV/AIDS infection.

Growing NS0 cells in disposable bioreactors entails significant technical challenges, and there are few reported cases of growing NS0 cells in large disposable bioreactors, the company said.

Dr. Ge Li, chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec, said, “Although there is overcapacity in biologics manufacturing facilities globally, our biologics manufacturing facility is the only one in China that meets global cGMP standards.

“Through this expansion, we can quickly address increasing market demand for high-quality and cost-effective manufacturing of biologics. The first 2000L run also showcases our solid development and scale-up capabilities in mammalian cell culture,” he added.