By Sherry Qin
Shares of the WuXi family of biotech and research companies listed both in Shanghai and Hong Kong rose sharply on receding worries about potential U.S. sanctions.
WuXi AppTec's Shanghai-listed shares rose 7.3% to 59.10 yuan (US$8.21) and gained 11% to 55.85 Hong Kong dollars(US$7.13) in Hong Kong Monday.
Sister company Wuxi Biologics also jumped 11% to HK$20.95, while WuXi XDC Cayman, Wuxi Biologics' contract medical research unit, soared 18%.
Despite the gains, WuXi AppTec and Wuxi Biologics are still down 30% and 29%, respectively, since the start of the year.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order Wednesday to "prevent large-scale transfer of Americans' personal data to countries of concern," including genomic, biometric, geolocation and financial data. The countries of concern are China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela, and have a record of misusing data on Americans, an official said.
In late January, the U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill that aims to bar federal contracts with Beijing Genomics Institute and some Chinese biotech entities due to alleged connections with the People's Liberation Army. The WuXi companies were among those named in the bill.
Analysts reckon the executive order signals it would restrict activities of genomics companies in the U.S. rather than contract research organizations, like the WuXi companies.
"The scope of the restriction is narrowed [to genomic sequencing], also not single out a specific company," said Jialin Zhang, Nomura's head of China healthcare research.
Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2024 01:11 ET (06:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments