China’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) WuXi AppTec has shaken up the global CDMO market by surpassing Switzerland’s Lonza in revenue for the first time in the first half of this year. The milestone comes despite intensifying pressure from the U.S. government, as both its legacy small-molecule drug business and new modality segments such as peptides experienced explosive growth simultaneously.
According to industry sources on the 9th, WuXi AppTec posted first-half revenue of CNY 28.9 billion (approximately $4.3 billion), up 38.9% year-over-year. This figure exceeds Lonza’s first-half revenue of CHF 3.374 billion (approximately $3.9 billion). Lonza was the global revenue leader on an annual basis last year.
WuXi AppTec’s performance carries significance beyond a simple revenue overtake. It demonstrates that Chinese CDMOs are not losing their global competitiveness in winning contracts, even as geopolitical risks intensify — the U.S. Department of Defense added WuXi AppTec to its “1260H List” (Chinese Military Companies List) in June. Alongside its earnings release, WuXi AppTec raised its full-year revenue guidance by approximately 14% to a range of CNY 58.5 billion to CNY 60.5 billion (approximately $8.5 billion to $9.0 billion). Given that Lonza has guided for 11-12% revenue growth this year, WuXi AppTec’s second-half performance could see it firmly claim the undisputed title of the world’s top CDMO.
The primary engine behind WuXi AppTec’s surge is its “TIDES” business. TIDES is WuXi AppTec’s contract research, development, and manufacturing (CRDMO) platform for peptides, oligonucleotides, and related synthetic conjugates. The unit posted first-half revenue of CNY 7.26 billion (approximately $1.1 billion), a 44.3% year-over-year surge. The TIDES segment saw its customer base expand by 39% and its project count jump by 68%, achieving explosive scale expansion.
This aligns with a global trend where commercial demand for GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) therapies — primarily driven by obesity treatments — is exploding, alongside steeply rising demand for clinical trial material production for next-generation peptide therapy pipelines. WuXi AppTec is employing a strategy of securing projects at the early contract research and development (CRDO) stage and subsequently converting them into large-scale contract manufacturing (CMO) orders.
The growth potential of this new modality market is rapidly redrawing the global CDMO landscape. Samsung Biologics, traditionally focused on antibody drugs, also formally entered the peptide competition last month by deciding to acquire Switzerland’s PolyPeptide Group for approximately ₩2.7 trillion (approximately $1.9 billion). PolyPeptide’s preliminary first-half revenue rose 41.6% year-over-year to €236.6 million (approximately $260 million), and the company has set a mid-term goal of doubling its revenue by 2028 compared to 2023 levels.
Peptide production facilities have now become strategic assets not only for CDMOs but also for big pharma. Novo Nordisk’s parent company, Novo Holdings, acquired U.S. CDMO Catalent in 2024 and is effectively operating it as an in-house production base.
However, some analysts caution that WuXi AppTec’s business is centered on small-molecule drugs, while Lonza boasts a broader portfolio spanning from small molecules to biologics, making a direct comparison of the two companies’ business capabilities based solely on revenue somewhat limited. Nevertheless, the industry widely interprets WuXi AppTec’s achievement as a signal flare indicating that the competitive axis of the global CDMO market is rapidly shifting from traditional antibody drugs to new modalities such as peptides and oligonucleotides.
A Samsung Biologics official stated regarding the PolyPeptide acquisition, “Since the company already possesses production sites capable of commercial manufacturing, there is no immediate need for large-scale new capacity expansion. We plan to review the necessary investment scale going forward based on demand growth and our business plans.”