Wuxi Apptec small molecule API subsid STA to hire more staff and expand
The firm – a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec – said it plans to establish a staff of 300 R&D employees at the site by the end of the year citing customer demand for process and analytical chemists as the driver.
Youchu Wang, head of R&D at the Changzhou site, said: “The plan is now to grow the R&D teams in Changzhou to closer to 300 scientists – 230 process chemists and 70 analytical chemists by the end of 2017.”
The facility was established in March 2016.
Currently STA employs 200 R&D people at the Changzhou site, including 160 process chemists, 40 analytical chemists and a team of crystallization technology engineers trained at its Shanghai facility.
The recruitment drive is part of a wider expansion plan that will see STA increase reactor capacity at the site. Specifically, the firm plans to add process chemistry labs, hydrogenation labs as well as a catalysis lab by the end of 2017.
STA also said that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will inspect the facility in the first half of the year, but did not provide additional information.
The firm provides process chemistry services and manufactures small-molecule intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for clients conducting preclinical and clinical trials and for marketed small-molecule drugs.
