WuXi AppTec Sues U.S. Department of Defense Over Being Listed on 1260H List 药明康德：就被纳入美国1260H名单事项对美国国防部提起诉讼

Suing the US Department of Defense—WuXi AppTec’s lawsuit is a battle with seemingly little chance of victory, yet it is one it must fight.

On June 11, WuXi AppTec sued the US Department of Defense, seeking to overturn its designation as a “Chinese military industrial company.” The root of the matter lies in the DoD’s latest 1260H list, where WuXi AppTec has been tagged. This list is based on vaguely worded, highly flexible provisions within the US National Defense Authorization Act. Simply put, the core accusation against WuXi AppTec is not about what it has done, but that it “might” be “influenced” or “affiliated” with the Chinese government—a presumption of guilt based on nationality and vague suspicions.

Thus, the most absurd scenario unfolds: a commercial company that diligently provides drug R&D and manufacturing outsourcing services globally must now go to a US court to prove its innocence and implore the judge to tell the Department of Defense, “You’ve got this wrong.” WuXi AppTec’s demand is straightforward: declare the designation invalid and remove the company from the list. But will a US court, for the sake of a Chinese enterprise’s commercial interests, overturn a decision made by the Department of Defense on the all-purpose grounds of “national security”? The probability is slim. This feels more like a legal ritual that must be seen through—a gesture to show global clients and shareholders, “We are fighting back.” Not suing would be tantamount to acceptance; suing, at least, muddies the waters and puts the absurdity of the logic behind the list under the spotlight.

The list itself is a “rubber stamp of compliance.” Once included, virtually all business with the DoD and its contractors is dead. But more frightening is its “ripple effect”—it becomes a glaring reference point for risk assessments by other US agencies and even allied countries’ enterprises. WuXi AppTec’s true fear is not losing a few US government contracts, but that this label will, like a virus, erode the trust of its global clients. In the CRO/CDMO industry, which relies heavily on trust and compliance, a “military affiliation” tag is enough to make multinational pharmaceutical firms hesitate for an extra three seconds before signing the next contract. Those three seconds could translate into billions in evaporated market capitalization.

Thus, WuXi AppTec’s choice is fundamentally one of “choosing the lesser of two evils.” If it does not fight, it will be slowly boiled like a frog in warm water, gradually losing the trust of mainstream Western markets. If it fights, it can at least demonstrate to all partners that the company is employing every means to protect its “collaborability.” This is not even a legal battle against the US, but a public relations and trust defense campaign aimed at global clients. The lawsuit serves as both a shield and an advertisement, with the message being: “Look, even at the frontline of the fiercest rule conflicts, we are still fighting to ensure the stable operation of your (the client’s) projects.”

On a deeper level, this marks the formal spread of US-China tech decoupling from “hard tech” (chips, AI) to “soft infrastructure” (the biopharmaceutical supply chain). What the US is trying to build is a biopharmaceutical “internal circulation” system that excludes core Chinese service providers. WuXi AppTec’s lawsuit is a harsh alarm from a critical cell within this system: forcibly severing one of the world’s most efficient supply chain nodes will exact a heavy price in terms of the system’s overall efficiency and costs. WuXi AppTec has thrown the question back with its lawsuit: Are you sure you want to bear the consequences of longer drug development timelines and soaring costs just for a geopolitical guessing game?

The outcome is unlikely to change. The list will not disappear because of this, and the US “small yard, high fence” strategy will continue to advance steadily. But WuXi AppTec has turned the courtroom into a megaphone, broadcasting to the world the arbitrariness and politicization of these rules. It may not win the war, but it has made everyone see clearly what this war is really about: not for the survival of a single company, but for defining who ultimately dictates the rules of commerce and trust in the future global system.

把美国国防部告上法庭——药明康德这一纸诉状，打的是一场几乎看不到赢面的仗，但它必须打。

6月11日，药明康德起诉美国国防部，要求撤销将其认定为“中国军工企业”的决定。事情的起因是，美国国防部在最新的1260H名单里，把药明康德这个名字给贴上了。这份名单的依据是美国《国防授权法》中那些语焉不详、弹性极大的条款。说白了，药明康德被指控的核心，不在于它做了什么，而在于它“可能”被中国政府“影响”或“关联”——这是一种基于国籍和模糊疑虑的“有罪推定”。

于是，最荒诞的一幕出现了：一家在全球市场老老实实提供药物研发和生产外包服务的商业公司，需要去美国法院自证清白，恳请法官告诉美国国防部：“你搞错了”。药明康德的诉求很直白：认定无效、移出名单。但美国法院会为了一个中国企业的商业利益，去推翻国防部基于“国家安全”这个万能理由做出的决定吗？概率微乎其微。这更像是一个必须走完的法律仪式，一个向全球客户和股东展示“我们在抗争”的姿态。不诉，就是默认；诉了，至少能把水搅浑，把名单背后的逻辑荒谬性放到聚光灯下。

这份名单本身就是个“合规性橡皮图章”。一旦被纳入，与美国国防部及其承包商的所有业务基本宣告死亡。但更可怕的是其“涟漪效应”——它会成为其他美国机构、乃至盟国企业进行风险评估时一个刺眼的参考标签。药明康德真正的恐惧不是丢掉几个美国政府订单，而是这个标签会像病毒一样，侵蚀其全球客户的信任基础。在高度依赖信任和合规的CRO/CDMO行业，一个“军方关联”的标签，足以让跨国药企在下一份合同签署前多犹豫三秒钟。这三秒钟，可能就是十亿美元的市值蒸发。

所以，药明康德的选择，本质上是“两害相权取其轻”。不抗争，会被温水煮青蛙，逐渐失去西方主流市场的信任；抗争，至少能向所有合作伙伴证明，公司正在动用一切手段维护自身的“可合作性”。这甚至不是一场对美法律战，而是一场面向全球客户的公关战和信任保卫战。诉讼是盾牌，也是广告，广告内容是：“看，我们在最激烈的规则冲突前线，依然在为你（客户）的项目稳定运行而奋战。”

更深的层面，这标志着中美科技脱钩从“硬科技”（芯片、AI）正式蔓延到“软基建”（生物制药供应链）。美国试图构建的，是一个排除中国核心服务提供商的生物医药“内循环”体系。而药明康德的起诉，则是这个体系中一个关键细胞发出的刺耳警报：强行剥离全球最高效的供应链节点之一，整个体系的效率和成本都会付出巨大代价。药明康德用诉讼把这个问题抛了回来：你们确定要为了一场地缘政治猜谜，而承受药物研发周期拉长和成本飙升的后果吗？

结果大概率不会改变。名单不会因此消失，美国的“小院高墙”策略依然会稳步推进。但药明康德把法庭变成了一个扩音器，向全世界直播了这套游戏规则的任意性与政治性。它没能赢下战争，但它让所有人都看清楚了，这场战争究竟在为什么而打：不是为了一家公司的生死，而是为了定义，在未来的全球体系里，商业规则和信任，到底由谁说了算。