House Committee Advances Bill to Restrict Chinese Biotech Firms’ Access to US Market

The House has advanced a bipartisan bill aimed at preventing U.S. taxpayer dollars from flowing to Chinese biotechnology firms that pose a national security threat. The BIOSECURE Act (H.R. 8333) was approved by the House Oversight Committee on May 15 by a 40-to-1 vote. The bill would ban federal agencies from contracting any Chinese “biotechnology company of concern,” including Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), MGI, Complete Genomics, WuXi Apptec, and WuXi Biologics. Meanwhile, U.S. pharmaceutical and health care companies have until 2032 to cut their ties with these Chinese companies. “The House Oversight Committee just sent a powerful, bipartisan message to the Chinese Communist Party: the United States will not sit idly by while the CCP steals our genetic data and seeks to control our biotech supply chains,” said Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) in a joint statement....