The IDA-backed company is said to be working with advisers to assess the level of interest in some of its European plants, which include two in Germany, as WuXi management fears they may no longer be needed.
In a statement to the Irish Independent in relation to the report, a spokeswoman said: “As a company, WuXi Biologics regularly conducts business reviews. However, we do not comment on market speculations.”
The Chinese drugmaker is facing restrictions in America, where the proposed Biosecure Act would ban US companies that have government contracts from using its services after 2032. The bill has been passed by Congress and is now before the Senate.
“New business in Europe has dried up in recent months, as biopharma groups with, or seeking, US federal contracts have become reluctant to use WuXi in light of the legislation,” the Financial Times reported.
Revenues from European customers fell 27pc in the first six months of the year to $260m (€235m).
WuXi’s business model is based around the contract development and manufacturing of biologics for some of the world’s leading pharma companies, including AbbVie and Pfizer.
In 2018 it unveiled plans to spend €325m to build a plant at Dundalk, which would be one of the largest contract manufacturing sites for single-use biologics in the world. It was also the company’s first site outside China.
The following year WuXi Vaccines said it would spend $240m on another facility at the Dundalk site. The group now employs a total of about 600 people there.
In its most recent set of results WuXi Biologics Ireland Ltd, the Irish manufacturing arm of the Hong Kong stock exchange-listed firm, recorded “expected” operating losses of €72.5m last year.
In 2023, WuXi Biologics Ireland Ltd said it continued in a start-up phase, culminating in the delivering of batches for its first client. This resulted in revenues increasing more than six-fold from €16.1m to €100.2m.
The FT news report also cited “people briefed on the sale processes” as saying the Chinese company’s assets may not be sold, but WuXi Biologics was seriously considering options as they may no longer need as much production capacity as previously thought.
“WuXi Biologics may opt to keep their European facilities if existing clients decide to stick with them, as the Biosecure Act will take time to have an effect,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying.