news

the latest developments in the legislative process of the us biosafety act, which affects chinese biotech companies such as wuxi apptec (603259) and bgi, have been reported. the us house of representatives announced on september 9 that it had passed the draft legislation of the biosafety act, hr8333, with a high vote rate of 306 to 81, which included designating wuxi apptec, wuxi biologics, etc. as "biotechnology companies of concern". influenced by this news, on september 10, all wuxi stocks fell.

trading data showed that on september 10, wuxi apptec's a shares opened 1.04% lower at 39 yuan per share. after the opening, wuxi apptec's a shares continued to fall, falling more than 6% during the day. as of the close of the day, wuxi apptec's a shares closed at 37.29 yuan per share, down 5.38%. bgi's share price also fell, closing down 2.03%. as for h shares, as of press time for beijing business daily, wuxi apptec fell more than 9%, wuxi biologics and wuxi helian fell more than 4% and 8% respectively.

it is understood that the above-mentioned bill intends to restrict the use of funds, loans or subsidies provided by the us government in the performance of government-funded contracts to use certain biotechnology equipment or services provided by designated companies. however, despite this restrictive clause, the bill also includes a non-retroactive clause ("grandfather" clause), which allows designated companies to continue to perform us government-funded contracts for their customers until 2032.

in the view of zhao heng, founder of latitude health, a medical strategic consulting firm, the eight-year period reserved by the "grandfather" clause can give relevant companies a relatively long buffer period. however, in the long run, there is a risk of long-term order loss. at present, market uncertainty is still relatively strong and needs to be observed later.

at present, the legislative process of this bill is unclear. it is reported that the proposed draft of the biosafety act will continue to go through the legislative process in the coming months. in order for the proposed draft legislation to become law, it must be approved by the u.s. senate before the end of the term of the 118th congress and reconcile any differences with the version passed by the u.s. house of representatives. at present, the u.s. senate has not yet scheduled the review of the proposed draft of the biosafety act.

in response to this situation, wuxi apptec and wuxi biologics both responded on the morning of september 10. wuxi apptec said that the company firmly believes that wuxi apptec has not, is not, and will not pose a national security risk to the united states or any other country in the past, and the company has never been sanctioned by any u.s. government agency. the company also reiterated that wuxi apptec has no human genomics business, and the company's existing businesses do not involve the collection of human genome data in the united states, china, or any other region.

wuxi biologics also stated that as a global biopharmaceutical crdmo platform, the company has neither human genomics business nor collects human genomic data in any of its global businesses. the company firmly believes that it has not, is not, and will not pose a national security risk to the united states or any other country in the past, and strongly opposes any unproven pre-emptive designation without due process. the company will continue to pay close attention to the legislative process and continue to communicate with relevant parties. the company is firmly committed to serving global customers and operating in accordance with applicable laws and regulations in all regions where it conducts business.

regarding the relevant situation, beijing business daily reporters called the secretary's offices of wuxi apptec and bgi respectively for interviews, but no one answered the calls.

beijing business daily reporter ding ning