Chinese pharma firm WuXi that makes life-saving cancer drugs accused of ... trends now
A major Chinese pharma firm is stealing Americans’ genetic information to build a massive worldwide database, lawmakers say.
WuXi AppTec, which has bases in Massachusetts, Delaware, and California devises molecules and tests them in the lab and in animals that US pharmaceutical companies base their medications on, some of which help treat cancer and cystic fibrosis among other serious health issues.
But the company, which has close ties with the Chinese Communist Party, has been found to have gleaned a mountain of Americans' genetic information via hacks and corporate mergers.
Last month, a congressional committee passed a bill to pressure health firms to decouple themselves from the company.
Ongoing investigations have shown that private genetic sequences via blood samples, DNA data, and individuals’ medical histories have landed in Chinese companies’ hands due to hacks and corporate mergers.
Sensitive data is believed to be gathered in China to develop medicines for its military, posing what lawmakers have called a major national security risk funded by US taxpayers.
Nearly $6 billion in profits for WuXi, which Congress warns is collecting Americans' private data, comes from US contracts
WuXi has been targeted by Congressional efforts to pressure US health firms to decouple from the drugmaker, which creates crucial cancer and cystic fibrosis treatments
Reports over the past five years have shown that companies like WuXi AppTec have posed a threat to private information and intellectual property.
WuXi makes some or all of the main ingredients for costly medicines, such as Imbruvica, a leukemia treatment from Janssen and AbbVie which runs for about $130,000 per year, and Trikafta, a cystic fibrosis medication that costs about $320,000 per year.
About two-thirds of Wuxi’s sales last year came from the US. The company’s revenue has more than quadrupled from 2018 to $5.6 billion in 2023.
According to Global Data's Pharma Intelligence Center Drugs by Manufacturer database, WuXi is behind 19 biosimilar drugs, or drugs that are derived from human or animals cells, not in the lab.
A bill in the House trained on WuXi, linking it to the military arm of the CCP, the People’s Liberation Army.
Lawmakers who wrote the bill say that the company has sponsored military operations linked to the
