Chinese pharma firm WuXi that makes life-saving cancer drugs accused of STEALING American's genetic information

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 CCP in China. 

According to the House of Representatives, WuXi's chairman has thanked the CCP's work in the company and has linked its success to CCP support. It also pledged to keep working with the CCP, establishing a 'management committee' staffed by party officials. 

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security passed a bill by 11 to 1 to restrict business with WuXi and another firm called BGI, though the bill has a long way to go before becoming law.

WuXi AppTec has received millions in tax incentives to create research and manufacturing sites in California, Massachusetts and Delaware. 

The company develops molecules that could cure diseases and test them in the lab and in animal models to ensure their safety and effectiveness.

Dr Peter Kolchinsky, managing partner of the firm RA Capital Management, said: ‘Your U.S. company has the idea and raises the money and owns the rights to the drug.

‘But they may count on WuXi or similar contractors for almost every step of the process.’

China is building a global database of genetic information that could be used to boost surveillance and build bioweapons, according to House Republican Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party.

Gene testing company 23andMe 'hacked' with thousands of people exposed 

 

The mammoth breach is the result of digital spies using old passwords to break into files for just 0.1 percent of customers - or 14,000 profiles - which are linked to millions more through ancestry tracing. 

He said: ‘The database includes Americans, whose DNA they’re collecting with large cyber hacks, corporate acquisitions, and other methods to include the collection of DNA from 8 million pregnant women globally.’

WuXi insists that it does not pose any threat to national security, has denied using genetic data, and that efforts to limit its activity in the US ‘relies on misleading allegations and inaccurate assertions to propose preemptive and unjustified prohibitions against our company without due process.’

The company is a major boon for at least 200 biotech firms in the US

BGI, meanwhile, was recently added to the US Commerce Department’s list of foreign entities deemed a national security risk and has said that it does not have access to Americans' personal data.

Democratic Sen Gary Peters, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said: ‘It’s important that when Americans undergo typical medical care, such as getting their blood drawn or other tests, they are confident their DNA will not end up in the wrong hands.’

A Reuters investigation into BGI’s practices found that the company has worked with the Chinese government to create a prenatal test that they’re using to collect genetic data from millions of women in order to conduct research on the traits of whole populations.

BGI used its prenatal test, among the most popular in the world and sold in at least 52 countries, which analyzes leftover blood samples and genetic data to gather information, capture data on the woman who uses the test including height and weight.

Over 8 million women have taken the tests globally.