From Yahoo Finance: 2025-06-17 19:09:00

Drug research and development firms in China, including WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics, are adjusting project plans, stockpiling supplies, and considering local testing to counter the impact of U.S.-China trade tensions. Concerns about delays in accessing U.S. supply chains and raised import tariffs are prompting biotech and pharmaceutical companies to reassess their strategies.

The reliance on U.S. imports in China’s pharmaceutical sector is under scrutiny as tensions rise. U.S. exported diagnostic and laboratory reagents to China valued at about $1.4 billion in 2024. Some U.S.-made goods, like diagnostic reagents from Siemens Healthineers, were exempted from raised Chinese tariffs, highlighting the potential impact on China’s healthcare industry.

WuXi AppTec and a Chinese biotech firm switched U.S.-made reagents for a Hepatitis B virus research project to non-U.S. versions due to concerns about higher costs from tariffs. At least 17 Chinese biotech and pharmaceutical clients have asked a local manufacturer to keep backup raw materials due to worries about cost increases or supply chain disruptions.

Chinese firms are adjusting strategies, with WuXi Biologics placing larger orders for U.S.-made reagents and Innovent Biologics and BeOne Medicines considering not sending U.S. clinical samples to China. Testing U.S. samples in the U.S. could be more expensive. The uncertainty surrounding U.S.-China trade relations is causing companies to rethink their operations and supply chain strategies.



Read more at Yahoo Finance: China pharma projects disrupted by Sino-US tensions