Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- WuXi Pharmatech Inc., a decade-old drug research company in the industrial outskirts of Shanghai, will employ more chemists next year than Pfizer Inc., the world's largest producer of medicines.

That's because Pfizer and rivals such as AstraZeneca Plc and Merck & Co. are turning to WuXi to help them find the next $1 billion treatment.

For the biggest pharmaceutical companies, being first with a new medicine is crucial as generic copies of their most popular brands erode sales. The shift to research labs in China is reducing expenses as U.S. and European drugmakers cut thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, WuXi is flourishing, doubling in market value in its first four months as a public company.

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