WuXi AppTec sells UK-US units, but annual results show foreign contracts continue despite China tensions

Fiona Barry

Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 7:29 AM 3 min read

WuXi AppTec (Shanghai, China) has sold disconnected 2 US/UK businesses successful February and March, it revealed successful its yearly results connected 18 March 2025.

The Chinese declaration research, development, and manufacturing organisation (CRDMO) announced successful its latest filings that it had completed 2 divestments archetypal announced astatine the extremity of 2024. On 7 March, it completed the merchantability of the US and UK operations of its WuXi ATU compartment therapy concern to US capitalist Altaris. WuXi AppTec stated that the rationale for the divestiture is “to guarantee that clients and patients with a pressing request for the WuXi ATU compartment therapy services tin proceed to person time-critical and life-saving treatments without interruption”. Altaris volition rename the compartment therapy CDMO and basal its office successful the US. It has 5 facilities successful the US and UK.

Last month, WuXi AppTec completed the merchantability of its US aesculapian instrumentality investigating operations to the CRO NAMSA (Northwood, US), it besides revealed successful its March filing. The transaction volition alteration WuXi to “focus much connected its halfway CRDMO business”, the institution said.

The divestitures are taking spot against a backdrop of accrued tensions and tariffs betwixt China and the US. The Biosecure Act, which failed to walk successful the US earlier the extremity of past twelvemonth but could beryllium revived successful 2025, would chopped disconnected national backing to pharma companies that outsource to WuXi AppTec. The measure claims “WuXi Apptec presents a nationalist information menace to the United States” done its alleged links to the Chinese government’s “military-civil fusion” strategy “that merges nationalist and backstage industries to alteration the subject modernisation” of the army.

In a third-quarter (Q3) 2024 net telephone successful October, WuXi AppTec stated that its ATU compartment and cistron subsidiary had already been impacted by the imaginable of the act, arsenic determination were “insufficient caller concern wins owed to the projected US legislation”.

Nevertheless, the interaction of geopolitics connected WuXi AppTec successful 2024 was “very limited”, co-CEO Minzhang Chen claimed astatine the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference successful January 2025.

Chen told the league that WuXi AppTec plans to absorption capableness connected Phase III and commercialized tiny molecules, and oligonucleotides and peptides successful 2025.

In its yearly results to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, WuXi AppTec revealed that its Q4 2024 gross reached 11.5bn yuan ($1.6bn), up 6.9% year-on-year (YoY). Its yearly gross for 2024 reached 39.2bn yuan, up 5.2% YoY, aft excluding a ample Covid-19 task successful 2023. Its full-year nett net reached 9.5bn yuan, successful enactment with its erstwhile guidance.