WuXi PharmaTech purchases Labcyte POD 810 plate assembler

WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX), a leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device research and development outsourcing company with operations in China and the United States, announced today it has purchased a Labcyte POD(TM) 810 plate assembler equipped with an Echo(R) 555 acoustic liquid handler for its work in high- throughput screening and secondary screening. WuXi PharmaTech joins the growing number of pharmaceutical companies worldwide that have incorporated the POD system into their compound management and HTS processes.

"With this technology WuXi will remain the leader in pharmaceutical outsourcing-this demonstrates our continuous efforts to build both capabilities and capacity to help our partners to improve the success of discovery and shorten development time," commented Dr Ge Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WuXi PharmaTech.

"Acoustic liquid handling is clearly the method of choice in drug discovery," said Dr. Qiang Lu, Vice President of Discovery Biology of WuXi PharmaTech. "We are very pleased to incorporate the POD 810 into our systems. It will make our drug discovery efforts significantly more productive while it reduces cost through the elimination of disposable plastic tips. We know that acoustic liquid handling will significantly improve the quality of the data we generate. We are looking forward to a continuing relationship with Labcyte."

The POD 810 plate assembler, a walk-away, out-of-the-box solution, transforms any Echo acoustic liquid handler into a Plates-On-Demand instrument. The POD system is controlled by its revolutionary Intellectual Scheduler with built-in intelligence to automatically adjust workflow to maximize productivity.

"The POD platform is uniquely positioned to advance method standardization across global sites," said Mark Fischer-Colbrie, president and CEO of Labcyte Inc. "It eliminates the unnecessary delays associated with customized integration."

"We are very pleased WuXi PharmaTech decided to acquire a Labcyte POD system," said Sanger Chang, General Manager of Tekon Biotech. "Our exclusive relationship with Labcyte is further validation of our efforts to be the leading supplier of instrument systems for pharmaceutical research to the Chinese market by providing the highest level of technical support and service."