World Cities Day | How WuXi AppTec’s Global Network Is Growing to Meet Demand

Cities are where innovation takes root and industries grow. From Couvet, Switzerland, to Middletown, Delaware, USA; from Singapore to Taixing and Changzhou in China, WuXi AppTec’s global operations are becoming part of the innovation ecosystems around them. Each site is more than a standalone manufacturing facility. It is rooted in its local community, connected to the surrounding industrial ecosystem, and growing alongside the city where it operates.

October 31 marks World Cities Day. This year, we look at how WuXi AppTec’s global manufacturing network is accelerating drug development, strengthening supply reliability, and expanding access to new medicines.

Closer to Customers, Across Global Markets

Expanding a manufacturing network is not just a matter of adding factories. Location matters: proximity to customers, access to specialized capabilities and the ability to coordinate production across regions can all influence how efficiently a medicine moves to market. WuXi AppTec is expanding its capacity in Europe, North America and Asia with these needs in mind.

Couvet site

In Europe, the Couvet site continues to expand its drug-product manufacturing and packaging capabilities. A new spray drying facility has recently commenced operations. The facility houses a PSD-4 spray dryer for manufacturing amorphous solid dispersions, a formulation approach that increases the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble compounds. 

Couvet's PSD-4 also complements the existing spray drying capability at WuXi AppTec’s China facilities, allowing spray drying processes to be run both in Europe and in China.

Middletown site in Delaware

In the United States, the Middletown site in Delaware is scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2026 and will become WuXi AppTec’s largest operating site in the country. The site will serve global clients with oral solid dosage manufacturing services ranging from early-stage development to commercial manufacturing.

Singapore site

In Asia, the first phase of WuXi AppTec’s Singapore site is expected to begin production in 2027, supporting commercial API manufacturing for small molecules and TIDES-based medicines.

Taixing site

At the Taixing site in China, two small molecule API plants began operations in 2026. Two additional plants focused on oligonucleotides, peptides, and PMO production are currently under construction and expected to be operational in 2027. 

Changzhou site

At the same time, the company has also advanced plans to begin construction of a new API manufacturing site in Changzhou.

These investments reflect both customer demand and the company’s confidence in future market growth.

Built for Speed, Rooted in Quality

Moving faster never means compromising on quality.

WuXi AppTec's Munich site has successfully passed the GMP inspection conducted by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and obtained EU Manufacturing/Importation Authorization (MIA) along with GMP certification. This milestone enables the company to launch product batch release services for the European Union market, including direct release of pharmaceuticals produced at its Couvet site in Switzerland, accelerating innovation and access to medicines for patients in need.

In March 2025, the U.S. FDA inspected WuXi AppTec’s API manufacturing sites in Changzhou and Taixing. The Changzhou inspection was an unannounced inspection. Both sites completed the inspections with no critical findings. In Q1 2026, the drug substance site in Changzhou and the drug product site in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, both successfully passed EMA inspections. During the first half of 2026, WuXi AppTec completed 465 customer, regulatory, and third-party quality audits, with no critical findings.

The significance goes beyond regulatory compliance. It demonstrates that when manufacturing capacity is built ahead of demand and operated under globally consistent standards, it can meet rigorous scrutiny from customers and regulators wherever it operates.

More Than Facilities: Spaces That Empower People

Manufacturing capacity is measured in facilities, equipment and output. But the long-term strength of an innovation network also depends on the people who work within it—and the environments in which they work. That connection was recognized recently at the 12th CREDAWARD.

Nantong site

 Wuhan site

Suzhou site

Recently, WuXi AppTec’s Nantong and Wuhan sites have received recognition at the 12th CREDAWARD, a global award for architectural and real estate design. The Nantong site received the Gold Award in the Integrated Commercial & Office category; the Wuhan site received the Merit Award in the Integrated Commercial & Office category. Their designs were recognized by the international jury for exploring how science and human experience can come together in research environments. In addition, WuXi AppTec's Suzhou site and the WuXi AppTec Nantong site have both received Honorable Mentions in the Architectural Design – Industrial Buildings category of the 2026 Architecture MasterPrize (AMP).

WuXi AppTec’s campuses are designed not only around the equipment they house, but also around the people who use them. Natural light, ventilation, and pedestrian spaces designed at a human scale can shape how people experience their everyday work, creating an environment that feels less like a conventional laboratory and more like a place where ideas and innovation can develop.

The cities may differ, but the underlying goal remains the same. Customers want to advance promising medicines and bring them to market. Patients want access to treatments that can help them live healthier, longer lives. By strengthening its network across regions, WuXi AppTec helps bring these aspirations closer together.

The company will continue to strengthen its CRDMO business model and uphold its core values of “Doing the Right Thing, Doing It Right.” By combining globally coordinated capabilities with consistent, rigorous quality standards, WuXi AppTec seeks to create lasting value for customers, the industry, and patients—and to advance its vision: “Every drug can be made, and every disease can be treated.”