Based on strong financial results for the first half of this year, Shanghai, China-headquartered WuXi AppTec is increasing its capital expenditure (CapEx) in 2026 to between RMB 7.5 billion and RMB 8.5 billion to fund the addition of new drug substance and drug product manufacturing capacity in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Earlier this year, the Chinese contract research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) had planned to increase its CapEx by at least 17% in 2026 to between RMB 6.5 billion and RMB 7.5 billion. However, WuXi AppTec is accelerating its global capacity expansion to meet growing customer demand.

“We delivered strong growth across revenue, profit, and cash flow in H1 2026, with our backlog for continuing operations reaching RMB 66.4 billion,” Ge Li, chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec, said in a statement. “We have therefore raised all of our 2026 guidance metrics and further accelerated our global capacity expansion.”

The increased CapEx investment will support WuXi AppTec’s global capacity expansion, including initiation of its new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) site in Changzhou ahead of schedule, according to the company.

In China, two new small molecule API plants at the CRDMO’s Taixing site are slated to become operational this year, and two additional plants focused on oligonucleotides, peptides, and phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) production are currently under construction and expected to be operational in 2027.

Co-CEO Minzhang Chen told Pharma Manufacturing in May 2026 that WuXi AppTec’s global manufacturing growth is driven by one dynamic: customers need more capacity.

“Demand for our services — particularly in peptides and advanced small molecule modalities — has grown significantly, and our customers are asking us to scale with them. That’s what is driving our investment decisions,” Chen said.

A Singapore site is currently being built and will also be operational next year, boosting the company’s global API manufacturing network for both small molecules and oligonucleotides, peptides and related synthetic conjugates (TIDES drugs). Three new TIDES plants are under accelerated construction in Taixing and in Singapore. The two Taixing plants are scheduled to be operational in 2027, and the first TIDES plant in Singapore will be operational in 2028.

TIDES is one of WuXi AppTec’s fastest-growing businesses globally, with revenue up more than 44% year-over-year in the first half of 2026 and full-year revenue expected to grow approximately 45%, as it continues to increase manufacturing capacity.

“We can meet customers’ demands by offering a full range of CRDMO capabilities at any scale — from discovery synthesis and process development to the manufacturing of complex synthetic conjugates, novel monomers, linkers, and ligands,” Chen said. “This is what WuXi TIDES offers, from milligram-scale synthesis all the way through to commercial supply.”

US, European investment

WuXi AppTec will begin operations later this year at a new 1.74 million-square-foot plant in Middletown, Delaware, which will be the company’s largest U.S. facility. The drug product site, which will serve the CRDMO’s North American market, is scheduled to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2026 for oral solid dosage manufacturing — with plans to expand into sterile/injectable production in the fourth quarter of 2027.

In Europe, WuXi AppTec is growing its drug product manufacturing and packaging capacity in Couvet, Switzerland — which the company contends is designed to support growing commercial demand, with a new PSD-4 spray dryer slated to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2026.

“Some customers prefer to keep work in the U.S. or Europe. Others place projects in China. We do not mandate a location — we provide the flexibility to choose,” Chen said.

Legal challenge to 1260H list designation

Li reiterated that WuXi AppTec strongly objects to its being added in June 2026 to the updated list of Chinese military companies maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

“This erroneous designation is not supported by facts or law,” Li said in a statement. “We have taken legal action to protect the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders.”

WuXi AppTec filed a June 11 legal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming DoD’s “unlawful” designation as a “national security threat” on the 1260H list has “inflicted substantial reputational, commercial, and operational harm” to the company and “threatened continuing injury” to its business as well as the CRDMO’s 1,200 U.S. customers and hundreds of U.S. employees who work at four facilities.

On June 29, WuXi AppTec filed a motion for preliminary injunction with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to enjoin the DoD from enforcing, implementing, or taking any other action pursuant to the 1260H list designation during the litigation process.

“The court has not yet issued a ruling after the hearing on our motion for preliminary injunction on July 22,” the company said. “We continue to believe that, as the judicial process continues, the facts will prevail after an objective and fair judicial review.”