China’s leading Contract Research Organization (CRO), WuXi AppTec (HKG: 2359, SHA: 603259), has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, with revenues reaching RMB 7.98 billion (USD 1.1 billion), marking a slight decrease of 1.8% year-on-year (YOY), excluding COVID-19 commercialization projects. The company’s original customer income stood at RMB 7.92 billion (USD 1.09 billion), also seeing a 1.6% YOY decline after accounting for the same exclusions. New customer acquisitions contributed a modest RMB 70 million to the top line.
Breaking down the figures by business segment, the chemical business segment reported revenues of RMB 5.56 billion, a marginal 0.6% decrease compared to the same period last year, COVID-19 commercial projects notwithstanding. The drug discovery arm continues to be a growth driver, with the company successfully synthesizing and delivering over 430,000 new compounds to customers in the past 12 months, a 3% YOY increase.
The testing business brought in RMB 1.49 billion, while the laboratory analysis and testing services segment saw revenues of RMB 1.05 billion, down 0.6% YOY. The biology business, focusing on new molecular species, achieved revenues of RMB 560 million, with related revenues increasing by 12.2% YOY, now representing 29.2% of the segment’s total revenues.
The high-end treatment CTDMO business segment recorded revenues of RMB 280 million, as the company continues to enhance its CTDMO service platform. By the end of Q1 2024, WuXi AppTec had provided comprehensive services for 65 projects, including 2 commercial projects and 5 Phase III projects, with 2 of them preparing for market application, 9 Phase II projects, and 49 preclinical and Phase I projects. Notably, the company added a new American client and secured the world’s first innovative tumor lymphocyte therapy (TIL) commercial project during the reporting period.
The domestic new drug research and development service department reported revenues of RMB 80 million. By the end of Q1 2024, three new drugs developed for customers had received marketing approval, two for COVID-19 infection and one for cancer. WuXi AppTec continues to benefit from milestone and sales-based revenue sharing for newly launched drugs, with two additional drugs currently in the market application phase.
In Q1 2024, WuXi AppTec welcomed over 300 new customers, bringing its total active customer base to over 6,000 in the past 12 months. Global demand for the company’s services remains robust, with revenues from the top 20 pharmaceutical companies amounting to RMB 2.7 billion, a 4.2% YOY increase excluding COVID-19 commercial projects. Revenues from other global customers totaled RMB 5.28 billion, down 4.6% YOY. Customers utilizing services from multiple business units contributed RMB 7.19 billion in revenues, accounting for over 90% of the company’s total revenues.- Flcube.com
