(Yicai) June 18 -- WuXi Biologics' suspension of its factory expansion plan in Massachusetts, the United States, is just part of the company’s normal business adjustment, the Chinese biologics firm said to Yicai.

The source did not say whether the halt was related to the latest market turmoil caused by the US Biosecure Act which aims to exclude the contract research development and manufacturing organization from US pharmaceutical supply chains.

Construction plans for all production bases might be adjusted if necessary because the latest change is part of WuXi Biologics' normal operations, the source said. As for whether the plant upgrade in MA is likely to be resumed, the person said that the firm would try.

A spokesperson for the government of Worcester, MA, reportedly said recently that WuXi Biologics sent a notice to the city that it would suspend a USD300 million local expansion project, first announced in January. The Jiangsu province-based firm said then that it would increase the capacity of its Worcester plant by 12,000 liters of commercial drug substance to 36,000 liters. 

WuXi Biologics has been dealing with aggravated stock price pressures this year as the damaging bill advances in the US. The Biosecure Act seeks to stop US pharmaceutical companies that receive federal funds from working directly or indirectly with Wuxi and its sister company AppTec, and the latest iteration sets a deadline of Jan. 1, 2032, for decoupling. However, the legislative process is still uncertain as a recent hearing suggests that the bill will not be included in the agenda of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.

Shares of WuXi Biologics [HKG: 2269] dropped 1.5 percent to HKD11.72 (USD1.50) in Hong Kong today, resulting in a nearly 80 percent slump since early November last year.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine