Dec 24 (Reuters) - China's WuXi AppTec said

on Tuesday its subsidiaries have signed a deal with U.S.-based

private equity firm Altaris LLC for the sale of its cell and

gene therapy manufacturing unit, WuXi Advanced Therapies, for an

undisclosed sum.

The company, along with other Chinese firms, have been at

the center of new U.S. laws aimed at restricting their

businesses in the United States due to national security

concerns.

The U.S. House of Representatives had passed a bill in

September which would prohibit federal contracts with targeted

firms and those that do business with them.

The bills are designed to keep Americans' personal health

and genetic information from foreign adversaries and aim to push

U.S. pharmaceutical and biotech companies to lessen their

reliance on China for everything from drug ingredient

manufacturing to early research.

WuXi said it would also sell Oxford Genetics, the UK-based

operating entity of the WuXi ATU business to Altaris LLC.

Neither WuXi AppTec nor Altaris LLC responded to Reuters'

requests for comment.