China’s WuXi AppTec sells Advanced Therapies unit to US investment firm Altaris
WuXi AppTec announced it has entered into an agreement to sell the U.S. and U.K. based operations of WuXi Advanced Therapies, its cell and gene therapy unit, to New York-headquartered healthcare investment firm Altaris.
As a contract testing, development and manufacturing organization (CTDMO), WuXi Advanced Therapies — which operates five facilities in the U.S. and U.K. — provides end-to-end solutions for cell and gene therapies. The sale of the wholly owned subsidiary of WuXi AppTec for an undisclosed amount is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
Altaris in a separate announcement said the acquisition builds on its strategic initiative in the cell therapy sector, noting that WuXi Advanced Therapies offers “a complete cell therapy outsourcing solution, including viral vector manufacturing, cell therapy process development and manufacturing, and biosafety testing.”
As a fully owned portfolio company of Altaris, WuXi Advanced Therapies will be renamed and headquartered in the U.S.
The rest of WuXi AppTec’s operations will remain unchanged, the company said, and its major business units — WuXi Biology, WuXi Chemistry, and WuXi Testing — “will continue our sharp focus on supporting innovative partners globally.”
WuXi AppTec is among five Chinese contract manufacturers targeted by the BIOSECURE Act, which seeks to prevent U.S. federal funds from supporting certain China-based biotech “companies of concern.” While the legislation was overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives in September, it failed to be included in a defense bill this month leaving its fate in limbo.
In October, the Financial Times reported that WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics — both named in the BIOSECURE Act — were exploring sales of some of their respective U.S. and European operations, including WuXi Advanced Therapies’ four laboratories and manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia.
WuXi Advanced Therapies announced in February that its Philadelphia site became the first U.S. external manufacturing site and the first third-party CTDMO to be approved by the FDA to support the commercial manufacturing and release of an individualized T cell therapy for a solid tumor cancer — Iovance Biotherapeutics’ Amtagvi for advanced melanoma.
2025 is expected to be another challenging year for cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing. CPHI’s 2024 annual report called the sector a “mixed bag of demand” for contract research organizations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs).
“Clinical phase demand for services in this area should continue to improve, however early phase CGT companies have been hit disproportionately hard in 2023 and continuing into 2024. CRO/CDMOs focused here should expect slow demand to continue well into 2025,” according to the report, which called the BIOSECURE Act a “net positive” for U.S.-based CRO/CDMOs and service providers in countries not considered foreign adversaries.