China Biotech Rise Raises U.S. Alarm

"China is moving fast to dominate biotechnology, and the U.S. risks falling behind permanently unless it takes action over the next three years, a congressional commission said.

Congress should invest at least $15 billion to support biotech research over the next five years and take other steps to bolster manufacturing in the U.S., while barring companies from working with Chinese biotech suppliers, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology said in a report Tuesday.

To achieve its goals, the federal government and U.S.-based researchers will also need to work with allies and partners around the world.

"China is quickly ascending to biotechnology dominance, having made biotechnology a strategic priority for 20 years," the commission said. Without prompt action, the U.S. risks "falling behind, a setback from which we may never recover."

The findings convey the depth of worry in Washington that China's rapid biotechnology advances jeopardize U.S. national security. Yet translating the concern into tangible actions could prove challenging.

Last year, the House passed with overwhelming bipartisan support a measure, called the Biosecure Act, that would bar companies that receive U.S. government funds or contracts from doing business with a list of Chinese organizations and companies of concern. But the bill never passed the Senate.

Meantime, the commission is calling for collaboration with organizations and researchers overseas, as well as billions of dollars in new investment, while the federal government cuts grants for public-health work overseas and health spending.

Sen. Todd Young (R., Ind.), chairman of the commission, expressed confidence Congress will act on the recommendations, though it will involve persuading lawmakers to move resources to American biotech as a matter of protecting national security.

"This area, as we have emphasized, needs a lot more attention. So we would advocate the shifting of our priorities from some current areas of research into biotech and very quickly," Young said.

China plays a large role supplying drug ingredients and even some generic medicines to the U.S.

For years it produced copycat versions of drugs developed in the West.

Recent years have seen it become a formidable hub of biotechnology innovation, after the Chinese government gave priority to the field as a critical sector in China's efforts to become a scientific superpower.

Now, Western venture-capital firms are investing in promising Chinese biotech startups, and Western pharmaceutical giants such as AstraZeneca, GSK and Johnson & Johnson are buying and licensing drugs discovered and tested in China.

Last December, for example, Merck struck a licensing deal, worth $112 million up front and up to $1.9 billion if milestones are met, with China's Hansoh Pharma to develop and sell an experimental pill that could compete in the white-hot obesity market." [1]

Without a doubt, we must fight with all our might to control our obesity market. Cancer, vascular diseases, Alzheimer's disease and other similar problems are important not only for our mildly obese, but for all of humanity. They are still unresolved, and we should urgently cooperate with everyone, including the Chinese, on them.

1.  U.S. News: China Biotech Rise Raises U.S. Alarm. Hopkins, Jared S.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 09 Apr 2025: A2.