An alarming story about WuXi, and its (potential) impact on chemical employment in the United States

Via Derek, this seriously bonkers Reuters story regarding WuXi AppTec: 

March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials in late February told senators working on a biotech security bill that Chinese pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec (603259.SS), opens new tab had transferred U.S. intellectual property to Beijing without consent, according to two sources.

The U.S. government is concerned that certain Chinese biotech companies are contributing technology or research and development for use by China's military, and the proposed legislation would restrict U.S. government funds going to those Chinese companies.

The classified briefing to about a dozen senators was led by the FBI, the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Those officials said that WuXi AppTec and other Chinese entities had engaged in activity in the U.S. contrary to U.S. national security interests, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Among the agencies' concerns was information reflected in recent intelligence reporting that WuXi AppTec transferred a U.S. client's intellectual property to Chinese authorities without consent, the two sources said.

First, I am a little skeptical of this story. I'm probably more of a dot mil type than Derek, to calibrate. I am, in general, pretty skeptical of specific stories about foreign governments without additional corroboration. So, the rest of this post will needs to start with "IF this is true" and I think it's a big "IF." 

IF this is true, then I suspect this is sufficient evidence for Congress to move on whatever legislation they are planning. The fact that the intelligence community is providing these briefings to Congress intimates a potential level of agreement and potential assent from the White House, which presumably will attempt to adjust any future bills via the Senate. 

So. IF this is all true, then you could imagine A Great Decoupling away from China IF indeed there is large-scale evidence that WuXi is either voluntarily or involuntarily coughing up American IP to the Chinese government.* I remember a story (I don't know if I entirely believe it) from a friend, or a friend of a friend who was taken to a rooftop on the WuXi campus in the late aughts and told "that's the Merck building over there, and the Pfizer building over there, and the [insert large pharma] building over there." Again, I'm skeptical of these stories, but suffice it to say in 2024 that there are many thousands more FTEs in China working on pharma (med chem, process, etc) than there were in 1990 or 2000. 

IF there is a Great Decoupling, then yes, some (or many?) of these jobs will eventually end back up in the United States. Likelier, though, they will start somewhere else. India, perhaps, or maybe Central/Eastern Europe. I don't see the numbers of chemists increasing in the US dramatically any time soon, but my crystal ball is murky. That said, IF a WuXi bill is signed, and IF there are serious consequences (i.e. if large pharmas are barred from working with WuXi on pain of, say, being removed from the CMS formulary), then all bets are off. IF. 

*The Chinese government is weird in all sorts of ways - but why would they have a meal on seed corn like this?