STA Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of China-based WuXi AppTec, has merged its operations with the parent company’s pharmaceutical development services (PDS) division.

STA is an open-access technology platform for the development and production of small molecule pharmaceutical products.

The PDS unit provides pre-formulation development, formulation development, and clinical trial material (CTM) manufacturing, packaging and labelling of oral solid dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, sachets and oral solutions / suspensions.

The WuXi AppTec division also established several technology platforms for the development of low soluble drugs, including spray dried dispersion, hot melt extrusion, micro or nano suspension and liquid-filled hard gelatin capsules.

Two commercial-scale drug product manufacturing plants are currently under construction and are expected to begin operations later this year and early next year.

With the merger, STA Pharmaceutical can provide a fully integrated, small-molecule, active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and drug product solutions to clients worldwide, thereby resulting in a smooth and easy chemistry, manufacturing and control (CMC) working process.

It will also allow the company to advance new chemical entities from pre-clinical stage to new drug application (NDA) as well as to market faster and efficiently for pharmaceutical and biotech customers.

WuXi AppTec chairman and CEO Dr Ge Li said: "The merging of the PDS division into STA is an important step for WuXi.

"Providing API and drug product services under one STA entity further strengthens WuXi's comprehensive contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) offering.

"Ultimately, our platforms advance vital new medicines through the development cycle faster, allowing our global partners to discover and develop better medicines for patients."