China’s WuXi to sell Advanced Therapies unit amid US restrictions

(Reuters) -China’s WuXi AppTec said on Tuesday its subsidiaries have signed a deal with U.S.-based private equity firm Altaris LLC for the sale of its cell and gene therapy manufacturing unit, WuXi Advanced Therapies, for an undisclosed sum.

The company, along with other Chinese firms, have been at the center of new U.S. laws aimed at restricting their businesses in the United States due to national security concerns.

The U.S. House of Representatives had passed a bill in September which would prohibit federal contracts with targeted firms and those that do business with them.

The bills are designed to keep Americans’ personal health and genetic information from foreign adversaries and aim to push U.S. pharmaceutical and biotech companies to lessen their reliance on China for everything from drug ingredient manufacturing to early research.

WuXi said it would also sell Oxford Genetics, the UK-based operating entity of the WuXi ATU business to Altaris LLC.

Altaris declined to comment beyond the given details while WuXi AppTec did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.