Biopharma companies, investors scrambling to work around WeChat ban

The Trump administration’s pending prohibitions on the use of WeChat in the U.S. is forcing participants in hundreds of biopharma partnerships between U.S. and Chinese companies to scramble to find alternative forms of communication.

The order, which will go into effect Sunday unless a court intervenes, prohibits downloading of the WeChat app in the U.S. It also bars “any provision of internet hosting services enabling the functioning or optimization of the WeChat mobile application, within the land and maritime borders of the United States and its territories,” as well as “any provision of content delivery services enabling the functioning or optimization of the WeChat mobile application.”...