(Yicai) March 11 -- Shares in WuXi AppTec rebounded today, following two straight trading days of losses, after the Chinese pharmaceutical giant said that it will repurchase CNY1 billion (USD139 million) of its mainland-traded shares, for the second time in two months, to stabilize its share price as a US biosecure bill moves forward.

WuXi AppTec’s share price [SHA: 603259] was trading up 4.8 percent at CNY54.33 (USD7.50) as of 2 p.m. today. Its Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG: 2359] advanced 3.8 percent to trade at HKD48.60 (USD6.22).

The repurchase price this time will not exceed CNY83.33 (USD11.60) per share, which is 150 percent of the stock’s average price over the last 30 trading days, it said. The Shanghai-based company will use its own funds to buy the shares back, it added.

This is the second CNY1 billion buyback in as many months. The drug giant approved a similar share repurchase on Feb. 5 at an average price of CNY49.32 per share, when its stock was first impacted by news of the impending bill.

Wuxi AppTec’s share price has been sinking due to a biosecure bill targeting Chinese biotech companies on the alleged grounds of national security that is making its way through the US government. On March 6, the US Senate’s homeland security committee approved the bill, causing Wuxi AppTec's share to plunge by the exchange-imposed limit of 10 percent on March 7.

The Biosecure Act, which would help prevent foreign adversaries from stealing sensitive US genetic data and personal health information, has now been passed to the Senate for consideration. If approved, the bill would ban certain Chinese biotech firms from getting US government contracts.

WuXi AppTec is strongly opposed to such a pre-emptive and unfair statement without due process, the company said on March 7. WuXi AppTec does not pose a national security risk to the US or any other country and should not be listed as a "biotechnology company of concern" in the bill. Wuxi AppTec does not have a human genomics business and does not collect genetic data.

Editor: Kim Taylor