WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. has acquired Abgent, Inc., a provider of biological research reagent products and services. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Dr. Chun Wu, founder and chief executive officer of Abgent, will continue to run the Abgent business unit as vice president of Biological Reagent Products and Services.
 
Abgent is among the largest manufacturers of antibody reagents for research use. The company has a catalog of approximately 20,000 antibody products and serves as the original manufacturer of antibodies distributed by large reagent suppliers. Abgent also develops and produces peptides and proteins for research and diagnostic applications. The company’s facilities consist of a 34,000-sq.-ft lab in Suzhou and a 10,000-sq.-ft. lab and office in San Diego. The company has about 150 employees.
 
“WuXi’s acquisition of Abgent continues our strategy leveraging the advantages of our China-based operations to provide high-quality services and products needed by the world’s biopharmaceutical and scientific researchers,” said Dr. Ge Li, chairman and chief executive officer of WuXi. “WuXi’s mission is to build a platform that will allow anyone and any company to discover and develop drugs more efficiently and cost effectively for patients. I am very excited about this small but strategically important acquisition and look forward to working with Chun to better the way future research reagents will be supplied.”