PHILADELPHIA—WuXi Apptec, one of the world’s largest contract research organization (CROs), has signed a five-year agreement that provides its researchers access to a web-based database called Reaxys to support its chemistry research. The company’s adoption of the technology is part of its strategy to expand the scope of its research services and create more robust technology platforms. Elsevier, the company that develops and licenses Reaxys, announced that WuXi Apptec gained access to its technology last December through a five-year unlimited license that covered two products: Reaxys and Reaxys Medicinal Chemistry. 
“As we expand our offerings, our focus is less on point solutions, and more on partnership with providers who can offer complete solutions that support a broad set of needs for our researchers across the organization,” Lucent Lu, vice president of procurement at Wuxi Apptec, said in a public statement. “Elsevier’s ability to provide robust solutions covering an entire spectrum of chemistry and other life-science research disciplines made Reaxys a natural fit for us.”
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Read MoreWuXi’s deal with Elsevier will give more than 3,500 chemists working with the CRO giant access to a database that is easily searchable and contains vast amounts of published literature and chemistry data, including more than 500 million experimental details that are fully indexed. Elsevier claims that its databases hold content from over 16,000 periodicals, reportedly making it the most extensive data trove for experimentally measured chemistry.
WuXi Apptec will use Reaxys and Reaxys Medicinal Chemistry for both synthetic and medicinal chemistry research. The two products can be used with each other, and they also integrate with technology from other vendors, allowing WuXi to incorporate its own data and content.
“The vast amounts of data Reaxys contains are easily searchable and provide a direct route from any chemistry question that is asked to the insight that is sought,” Timothy Hoctor, vice president of professional services for Elsevier, tells DDNews. “Our expertise in organizing data through established taxonomies can be very valuable.”
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Read MoreWuXi Apptec has focused on growing its footprint in medicinal chemistry in recent years and has also worked to expand its work in pharmaceutical R&D. Guenther Kurapkat, Elsevier head of R&D solutions for pharma and life sciences, says that access to Reaxys will help WuXi Apptec more effectively study the relationships between different compounds, helping the company generate significant insights in the areas in which it is trying to expand.
“In an increasingly competitive market, many pharmaceutical and life-science organizations employ CRO providers to boost productivity and the success rate of research,” Kurapkat said. “For the providers themselves, productivity is vital. Tools that provide timely access to accurate and relevant data will ensure greater productivity and the success of any research.”
WuXi AppTec launched in 2000 and now has operations in both China and the United States and over three million square feet of laboratory and manufacturing space.
Reaxys was launched in 2009 and has grown steadily, expanding its coverage of organic, medicinal, synthetic, agro, fine, catalyst, inorganic and process chemistry. The technology is designed to provide a single, universal platform for access to data on physical, chemical and pharmacological data. Reaxys provides information on structures, reactions and citations and as well as a synthesis planner, commercial availability information and links to Scopus for all matching articles and interoperability with ScienceDirect.
