According to a report by Reuters on Thursday, June 6, based on publicly available patent documents and scientific papers, employees of WuXi AppTec, in collaboration with scientists from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, developed a drug to treat high altitude sickness. This development could heighten the urgency for US Congress to restrict WuXi AppTec’s operations in the US.
It was found by Reuters that among 10 patent applications, 6 employees of WuXi AppTec and 6 scientists from the PLA General Hospital jointly invented a drug for treating high altitude sickness.
The PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital) is a top military medical academy and research center in China. The 10 patent applications were submitted in the US, Europe, and China between 2018 and 2023.
The Chinese military clashed with Indian forces in the border region in 2022. The PLA stated that high altitude sickness is a major factor leading to decreased combat effectiveness of Chinese soldiers in these areas, including directional disorders and fatal conditions like pulmonary and cerebral edema. High altitude sickness can affect the outcome of wars.
It was reported by Reuters that the relationship between WuXi AppTec and the Chinese military in drug development has gone beyond previous public accusations by US Congressional committees. The US is investigating the relationship between WuXi AppTec and the Chinese military.
The House Special Committee on China accused WuXi AppTec of posing a threat to US national security interests. The company reported annual sales in the US of about $3.6 billion last year.
WuXi AppTec denied the allegations of posing a national security threat to the US. In a statement to Reuters, they stated that they “have not collaborated with the PLA General Hospital or any other military entity” in this work and have “no special relationship” with the Chinese military.
The company explained that the employees were listed in the patent documents because they had previously “invented compounds related to hypertension treatment” while conducting research for their client, Shijiazhuang Sagacity New Drug Development Company.
WuXi AppTec stated that Sagacity New Drug Development included these compounds “in subsequent projects of which we were not aware, and those projects do not involve our company or employees”.
The founder of Sagacity New Drug Development was the legal representative of a company acquired by WuXi AppTec’s parent company in 2016. The company told Reuters that while they operate independently from WuXi AppTec, they do collaborate on certain services but did not respond to questions about the inventors of the patents.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comments on the relationship between the military and WuXi AppTec.
He Kunlun, the head of the Medical Big Data Research Center at the PLA General Hospital’s Medical Innovation Department, is the primary author and joint inventor of the patented treatment research. He did not reply to Reuters’ requests for comments via email.
Reuters found two US Patent and Trademark Office documents dated March 2021. These documents revealed that six WuXi AppTec employees had transferred the patent rights to Sagacity New Drug Development and the PLA General Hospital.
When asked about these documents, WuXi AppTec stated that transferring patents to the applicants is “standard patent filing practice,” and that both the company and the six employees do not own these patents.
In a study related to high altitude sickness treatment in June 2022, the scientist leading high altitude research at the PLA General Hospital, He Zhiqiang, thanked the WuXi AppTec team for “initiating and facilitating” Beijing-funded advanced defense science projects, according to Reuters.
Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House Committee on China, said that the results of Reuters’ investigation “underscore the immediate need for legislation by Congress”. The legislation would restrict collaboration between US institutions and companies with certain biotechnology companies, including WuXi AppTec.
Anna Puglisi, a former US counterintelligence official focusing on biotechnology and China issues, told Reuters, “People forget that public health is effectively controlled by the PLA.” She reviewed Reuters’ investigation results. Puglisi is currently a part-time professor at Georgetown University.
Reuters also found that seven individuals listed in research papers or scientific conference papers were graduate students or researchers from the Second Military Medical University of the PLA Navy and were also employees of WuXi AppTec.
Sheng Chunquan, the Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the Naval Medical University and a four-star officer, wrote in a 2021 article in the “Pharmacy Practice and Service” magazine of China that the school trains researchers in “military pharmacy” based on plans set by the highest military decision-making body of the Communist Party.
Sheng Chunquan’s drug development work has received recognition from WuXi AppTec. In an interview in 2016, he mentioned that cooperation between WuXi AppTec and the Naval Medical University would “greatly promote the process of new drug development and marketing.” This interview has recently been removed from WuXi AppTec’s company social media accounts.
Reuters also discovered that over 10 scientific papers indicate that at least three graduate students from the Naval Medical University were involved in projects related to pain treatment and antibiotics with WuXi AppTec for clients in the US, Europe, and Canada. These three students were also employees of WuXi AppTec.
WuXi AppTec stated that all military medical colleges in China admit regular students. The company also mentioned that their internal security measures prevent unauthorized access by employees to laboratories and documents, and all employees have signed agreements prohibiting them from sharing company data or intellectual property with third parties for academic research and/or student learning purposes.
Puglisi noted that according to a 2017 Chinese law, all Chinese companies are obligated to “assist and cooperate in national intelligence work,” and once the Chinese authorities request companies to share information, they do so regardless of “who owns that intellectual property”.
WuXi AppTec stated that the law is “subject to substantive and procedural limitations,” and Beijing has not required them to “provide proprietary data or confidential information related to that law”.
(Based on Reuters’ reporting)