Chinese Pharma Contractor Porton Scraps European Expansion After Novartis Dispute

Chinese contract drug manufacturer Porton Pharma Solutions Co. Ltd. has scrapped a major European expansion project following a bitter dispute with multinational pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG, resulting in a hefty financial write-down that has pushed the company into the red for the first half of 2026.

Porton said it will take an impairment charge of roughly 330 million yuan ($48.76 million) for the aborted research and manufacturing base in Slovenia. The charge will drag the Shenzhen-listed company to an estimated net loss of 210 million yuan to 250 million yuan for the first six months of the year, wiping out what would otherwise have been a profitable half.