(Yicai) May 16 -- WuXi AppTec reiterated that it has not and will never pose a national security risk to any country after the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability passed new legislation restricting domestic organizations from contracting some Chinese biotech firms.

The bill again lists WuXi AppTec as a "biotechnology company of concern," the Shanghai-based firm said early today. The company strongly opposes this preemptive and unjustified designation without due process, it noted.

The Committee on Oversight and Accountability voted 40 to 1 to approve the bill yesterday. According to the US legislative process, the bill still needs to be voted on and passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and signed by President Joe Biden to become law.

The new H.R.8333 legislation is a revision to the H.R.7085 draft for the Biosecure Act, which aims to help prevent foreign adversaries from stealing sensitive US genetic data and personal health information and was cleared by the Senate's homeland security panel on March 6.

WuXi AppTec protested the previous classification of its business by US bills to no success, it pointed out, noting again that its business activities do not involve collecting human genomic data in the US, China, or anywhere else. It has not been subject to any sanction by US government agencies, it added.

WuXi AppTec provides contract research and manufacturing services for global pharmaceutical companies in new drug development and production. Revenue from its chemical drug business accounted for 72 percent of its total last year, it said in its annual financial report.

WuXi AppTec will work closely with its advisors to continue its engagement and dialogue with relevant stakeholders involved in the ongoing legislative process for the new bill and the Biosecure Act, it pointed out.

The Biosecure Act "prohibits a federal agency from procuring any biotechnology equipment or service from a biotechnology company of concern," with the list of Chinese firms including WuXi AppTec and BGI Genomics.

Shares of WuXi AppTec [SHA: 603259] closed up 0.8 percent to CNY45.58 (USD6.32) apiece in Shanghai today, while the Hong Kong-listed stock of WuXi Biologics [HKG: 2269], which was spun off from Wuxi AppTec several years ago, rose 0.4 percent to HKD14.56 (USD1.87).

Since reports on Jan. 26 about the proposed Biosecure Act, which would ensure foreign biotech firms cannot access money from US taxpayers, WuXi AppTec's shares have slumped nearly 40 percent.

Editor: Martin Kadiev