BIO-more-SECURE? Act left out of 2025 US Defense Bill

The proposed US BIOSECURE Act was this week left out of the House Rules Committee’s final list of amendments to be voted on for inclusion in the NDAA, an agreement that specifies the budget and spending for the US Department of Defense. The lack of inclusion may, therefore, provide somewhat of a respite to both global supply chain concerns and for Chinese service providers targeted by lawmakers.

The bipartisan Act looks to ensure “foreign adversary biotech companies of US national security concern do not gain access to US taxpayer dollars,” naming BGI Group, MGI, Complete Genomics, and WuXi Apptec when first introduced in January 2024.

While not named at the time, WuXi Biologics was implicated in the Act, causing a significant drop in its share price. A later iteration, which looks to give US biopharma firms until 2032 to sever ties with Chinese suppliers, named WuXi Biologics directly.

With the revelation of BIOSECURE’s exclusion from the FY2025 NDAA, WuXi Biologics’ share price jumped 14% on Wednesday to 12.84.

The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has significant global bioreactor capacity, having both built up its network through a series of greenfield CAPEX projects and through acquisition. Among its latest projects, WuXi Biologics is adding 120,000 L of capacity through a $1.4 billion investment in Singapore, and is adding a further 15,000 L at a site in Hangzhou, China formerly owned by Pfizer.

The firm has facilities in China, the US, Ireland, Germany, and Singapore and as of December 31, 2023, had 698 integrated client projects underway, including 24 in commercial manufacturing.