Shanghai-based PhageLux has received an investment from WuXi PharmaTech Healthcare Fund, the investment arm of CRO WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX). PhageLux uses phages to solve bacterial problems in fields such as crop disease, animal health, food safety and general sanitary. This year, PhageLux will begin work on human health issues. PhageLux has taken offices in the ChinaBio® Accelerator located in the Biotech VC Plaza at Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

Edward Hu, COO/CFO of WuXi PharmaTech, announced that WuXi had made the PhageLux investment in his presentation at the China Healthcare Investment Conference in Shanghai, which was organized in collaboration with ChinaBio®. The size of the investment was not disclosed. Dr. Ge Li, founder and Chairman of WuXi, joined the Board of PhageLux after the investment.

PhageLux was founded by well-known Shanghai life science entrepreneur Mark Engel. Previously Mr. Engle founded three companies in China: Haoyisheng, a provider of medical education services for doctors; Excel PharmaStudies, a clinical-stage CRO that was sold to PPD (NSDQ: PPDI) in 2009; and Tiger Medical Group, a medical products company.

To develop its products, PhageLux uses third party out-sourced service providers or its own lab. The company also in-licenses phage products from third parties. PhageLux sells its products directly within China and to multinational partners for outside markets. PhageLux prefers to work with global partners that have at least one phage product already in the market.

In related news, Sofie Qiao, PhD, has joined Wuxi as Managing Director, WuXi PharmaTech Healthcare Fund. Dr. Qiao was President and Co-Founder of LINQ Pharmaceuticals and also Founder and President of LEAD Therapeutics, an oncology company with operations in Shanghai that was bought in 2010 by BioMarin for $97 million.

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Disclosure: none.