China’s WuXi AppTec, which a US legislative commission called the “Huawei equivalent for biotechnology”, has reported a surge in US business despite increased scrutiny from Washington, according to its latest data.
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In the first three months of the year, WuXi’s revenue from US-based customers increased 28.4 per cent year on year to 6.38 billion yuan (US$874.8 million), the Hong Kong-listed company said in a filing on Monday. Revenue from European customers also jumped 26.2 per cent, while overall revenue for the quarter rose 21 per cent to 9.65 billion yuan. Net profit surged 89 per cent.
Founded in 2000, WuXi AppTec is China’s largest provider of contract drug research, development and manufacturing services, with operations spanning the globe. The US remains its biggest market.
Amid rising geopolitical tensions, WuXi has been caught in Washington’s crosshairs in recent years, as the US has ramped up efforts to curb China’s technological progress.
WuXi was among the Chinese firms recently named by a US congressional commission in a warning of the “sobering, even frightening” rise of China’s biotech industry.
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“China’s leading biomanufacturers”, including WuXi, can make products at scale through a global network of facilities, allowing the Chinese government to “control a global supply chain”, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a bipartisan legislative commission established by the US Congress, alleged in a report earlier this month.
WuXi refuted the commission’s claims of connections to the Chinese government.