House passes BIOSECURE Act 306-81; awaits Senate passage
After much anticipation and concern, the BIOSECURE Act—which would prevent U.S. companies from working with certain Chinese biotech service providers—has passed a key threshold.
Late Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 306-81 in favor of the bill, which was introduced in January and seeks to halt federal contracts with five named Chinese life-sci companies—WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics, BGI Group, MGI and Complete Genomics—over alleged national security concerns.
...With the bill having passed through the House, it will now be up to the Senate to decide on the fate of the BIOSECURE Act.
Still, the most likely route for the bill to become law would involve tucking BIOSECURE into a larger legislative vehicle, such as the annual defense bill or government funding legislation, according to Stat.
...Despite support for the BIOSECURE Act in Washington, industry watchers have raised concerns about the complicated work that would be required for U.S. and European drugmakers to untangle themselves from their Chinese contractor partners. The current version of the bill would require drugmakers to sever ties with the named Chinese contractors by 2032 to retain their positions on Medicare and Medicaid, which serve as crucial sales drivers for many pharmaceutical companies.
I am once again surprised that it has gotten this far, but I'm not very good at predicting Congress. I have my doubts this will make it through the Senate, but maybe I should learn a lesson and simply say "I dunno."