A major cog in Philadelphia biotech is in congressional crosshairs for its Chinese ownership

WuXi AppTec’s reach extends globally across the pharmaceutical outsourcing supply chain, spanning 41,000 employees in nine countries.

The company has operations in seven states, with a total of 1,100 employees outside Philadelphia, according to a fact sheet it provided. In Delaware, a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility backed by $19 million in state aid is scheduled to open next year in Middletown, and provide around 500 jobs by 2026.

WuXi AppTec came to Philadelphia in 2008 when it acquired AppTec Laboratory Services, a company with operations at the Navy Yard, for $150 million.

Ever since, WuXi has steadily increased its presence, most recently adding 140,000 square feet at 400 Rouse Blvd. in 2021, tripling its testing capacity for cell and gene therapy companies worldwide, the company said in a news release at the time.

WuXi AppTec has significant ties to cell and gene therapy companies working in Philadelphia, and is one of the largest players in a regional biotech scene that is among the leaders nationally in developing treatments.

Local players that have partnerships with WuXi AppTec did not respond to requests for comment last week on the significance of a potential ban on its operations.

This includes a new consortium, the Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub, that was selected from among more than 370 applications for the federal Tech Hub designation. Created by 2022’s CHIPS and Science Act, the designation recognized the Philadelphia area’s potential in a technology-centered push to rejuvenate advanced manufacturing in the United States.

The effort was led by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, which plans to work on supply-chain and manufacturing issues in the production of cell and gene therapies and other advanced treatments.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which is state-funded and makes early-stage investments to boost Pennsylvania’s economy, did not respond to a request for comment Friday about the significance of WuXi AppTec to the region’s cell and gene therapy industry.

Others involved in Philly’s biotech industry, including Life Sciences Pennsylvania, and the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, which has a unit that tries to attract biotech companies to the region, said they could not comment while the U.S. House’s Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party was still investigating.

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