(Yicai Global) Oct. 10 -- After negotiations lasting for eight months, a subsidiary of Chinese biotech company Wuxi Biologics has been removed from the so-called unverified list by the US Department of Commerce.

Wuxi Biologics Co., Ltd., one of the Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu province-based biotech firm’s subsidiaries, was removed from the UVL on Oct. 7 after an on-site end-use check was successfully conducted by the US Department of Commerce, in coordination with China’s Ministry of Commerce, according to an announcement from the company this morning. 

The company also said it is working closely with relevant government authorities to schedule an on-site end-use check at its other subsidiary, WuXi Biologics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., and will commence the UVL delisting process for as soon as the check is completed.

In February this year, the US Commerce Department added a total of 33 Chinese entities to the UVL, restricting their ability to import products from the US. Affected by the news, shares in Wuxi Biologics slumped by nearly 23 percent on Feb. 8. 

At the time, senior executives at the company said the reason why it was included in the list was because the US Department of Commerce failed to conduct on-site checks due to local Covid-19 outbreaks. They said the firm’s team of lawyers would negotiate with the US to get removed from the list as soon as possible. The US adds companies to the list if it is unable to conduct local checks to make sure they can be trusted to receive sensitive US technology exports.

Wuxi Biologics is a developer and producer of biological medicines, including ingredients for AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, and it has more than 10,000 employees in China, the US, Ireland, Germany and Singapore. In the first six months this year, its net profit expanded by 37.6 percent year-over-year to CNY2.5 billion (USD351.5 million), with corresponding revenues surging by 63.5 percent to CNY7.2 billion, as per its first-half earnings report.

Editor: Tom Litting