Resist Now Resist Now Built for Action Take Action

Pentagon Blacklists WuXi STA. Delaware's $500M Pharma Campus at Risk.

Resist Now 3 min read
Write or Call Your Rep

Pentagon’s Chinese Military Company List Now Threatens Delaware’s Largest Economic Development Grant

The Pentagon has added WuXi STA Pharmaceuticals to its “1260H list,” a federal designation for companies the Department of Defense identifies as “Chinese military companies.” The move puts a $500 million pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Middletown, Delaware, at serious risk before it opens.

WuXi STA, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based WuXi AppTec, is one of the world’s largest contract pharmaceutical manufacturers. The Middletown campus is nearly complete and was scheduled to begin operations later in 2026.

$500 million Cost of the WuXi STA campus in Middletown, backed by the largest taxpayer-funded grant of the Carney administration.

The state’s financial exposure matters because Delaware taxpayers are already on the hook. The project received the largest taxpayer-backed grant of the Carney administration, making this a public risk, not just a private business setback.

The 1260H Designation Cuts Off American Clients

Any company on the Pentagon’s 1260H list faces steep barriers to doing business with American firms. The BIOSECURE Act, which passed in 2025, extended those prohibitions to companies on the 1260H list, meaning WuXi STA’s U.S. pharmaceutical clients could be legally barred from contracting with the Middletown facility.

WuXi AppTec had narrowly avoided inclusion in the BIOSECURE Act’s original language. The Pentagon’s 1260H designation now achieves a similar result through a different mechanism.

WuXi STA filed a federal lawsuit against the Pentagon earlier in June 2026 to challenge the designation.

“We are confident this designation is wrong and not supported by the facts or legal criteria and a full and fair review of the facts will vindicate our position.”

WuXi AppTec spokesperson, June 2026, via Delaware Spotlight

Delaware’s Delegation Has use Before the Lawsuit Resolves

Congress has oversight authority over the 1260H designation process. Delaware’s senators and its lone House member can press the Department of Defense for transparency on how the designation was made, what evidence supports it, and what process WuXi STA can use to appeal. They can also hold oversight hearings on whether the BIOSECURE Act’s enforcement mechanism is being applied consistently.

The lawsuit may take months or years to resolve. Legislative pressure is the faster lever.

What You Can Do Now

  1. Call Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to request a formal briefing from the Department of Defense explaining the evidentiary basis for WuXi STA’s 1260H designation. Constituents in Delaware have a direct economic stake in the outcome.

  2. Contact Representative Sarah McBride’s office at (202) 225-4165 and ask her to raise the issue in the House Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over the 1260H designation process. The committee can demand DOD document the criteria used.

  3. Contact the Delaware Economic Development Office at (302) 739-4271 and ask what contingency planning exists to protect the taxpayer-backed grant if the Middletown facility cannot secure U.S. pharmaceutical contracts under the BIOSECURE Act.

  4. Find your Delaware state legislators at legis.delaware.gov and ask them to hold a public hearing on the state’s financial exposure from the grant. Taxpayers deserve an accounting of what happens to public funds if the campus cannot operate as planned.

Sources

Write Your Rep ↓