Guide
On March 22, U.S. Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher announced his upcoming resignation from Congress on his personal social media. This trend not only attracted the attention of the Republican Party, but also caused a lot of waves in the pharmaceutical industry in China and the United States.
Gallagher is a controversial Republican congressman. Since 2024, his role in the pharmaceutical industry has become particularly prominent, pushing for the Biosecure Act, which is aimed at China's fast-growing biotech industry.
Gallagher will officially resign on April 19. Will this resignation change have an impact on the final settlement of the bill? Most experts believe that Gallagher's departure will not have a direct and decisive impact on the bill. But as a staunch supporter of the bill, his departure has made the political game confusing, and may have slowed its progress.
Gallagher's absence may weaken some of the most lethal provisions of the bill, such as restrictions on Chinese contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), but the harm to China continues to be done in any case.
Deep Inquiry Science | Sentence
At the end of January this year, the draft of the US Biosecurity Act set off a storm in China across the ocean, mainly because the bill seems to target Chinese biotech companies.
Earlier, some lawmakers proposed to prohibit Chinese biologics companies such as BGI and WuXi AppTec from providing services to federally funded medical institutions.
On January 31, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs presided over a hearing on the bill, announcing that the bill was "held over" for now.
Although the bill has been put on hold, there has been speculation that the US government may be "going to take action" against such Chinese biotech companies. Will biotechnology be the next focus of contention between China and the United States?
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The draft of the U.S. Biosecurity Act has caused a stir
In January of this year, at the 118th Congress of the United States, Congressman Gallagher introduced a draft Biosecurity Act. Originally, it was a biosafety-related bill in the United States, but two Chinese biotech companies were frequently mentioned in the bill.
In the draft, a Chinese gene company is accused of "collecting genetic data on people around the world" for the purpose of "suppressing and surveilling access to genetic data," while another biotech company is accused of posing a "national security threat" to the United States.
To this end, the draft prohibits the U.S. from investing in such biotechnology companies, and prohibits the U.S. from purchasing biotechnology equipment from such companies. And these measures are undoubtedly to pull such biotechnology companies into the "blacklist".
As soon as this news came out, the stock prices of the two biotech companies ushered in an unwarranted disaster.
What is even more worrying is that the US draft seems to be targeting more than just two biotech companies, and the real intention behind it may be to compete with Chinese biotech.
02
Biotechnology could become the next focus of competition between China and the United States
In the draft of the Biosecurity Act, the United States attaches particular importance to China's biotechnology.
To demonstrate that China is "seeking to dominate the biotech industry in the future," the draft proposes a series of major moves by the Chinese government in recent years in biotechnology that the U.S. sees as a threat to U.S. national security.
The draft Biosecurity Act seems to be a signal that the United States may start a new battle with China in the field of biotechnology.
2月3日，美国知名媒体《Axios》发布最新报道，指出“生物技术是中美科技竞争的新焦点”（Biotech is the new focus in U.S.-China tech rivalry）。
Take the draft plan to "block" China's gene company, which is growing very rapidly in China. During the pandemic, the company helped set up genetic testing sites in more than 20 countries. In addition to this, the Company and its affiliates offer a comprehensive range of products and services, including DNA sequencers, protein mass spectrometry, diagnostic tests, reagents, and data storage and management. Western companies are often unable to provide this one-stop-shop.
"All countries are aware that they need to invest in biosafety and biotechnology, but most countries need to buy from somewhere or work with a company. Matt McKnight, general manager of biosafety at synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks, mentioned that among these companies, Western or some Chinese companies are always the first choice.
Anna Puglisi, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET), believes that China's industrial policies and subsidies to businesses "essentially create an unequal playing field," adding that "there is nothing like it in the United States."
But will the introduction of the Biosecurity Act help U.S. biotechnology? The answer may be: no.
TD Cowen analysts believe that the rapid exclusion of Chinese biotech tools could disrupt U.S. research efforts and the production of biotechnology, as the planned sanctioned genes and their affiliates are already deeply rooted in NIH-funded clinical trials and approved therapies. If the U.S. pushes ahead with a crackdown on Chinese biotech companies, it could end up creating a "lose-lose" situation.
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This is not the first time that China and the United States have had a biotechnology dispute
In fact, this is not the first time that China and the United States have had friction over biotechnology.
In 2018, then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced a policy specifically aimed at reviewing academic exchanges between U.S. universities and Chinese institutions, the China Initiative, which persecuted many Chinese-American scholars.
On June 23, 2022, InvoX Pharma, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sino-Biopharma, and F-star Therapeutics, a British biotechnology company, issued a statement confirming that they had agreed on a takeover offer.
However, due to the enactment of the U.S. Bio Act in September 2022, the transaction has attracted the attention of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In November of the same year, CFIUS filed a request for review based on its concerns that mergers with Chinese companies could pose a potential threat to national security.
As of February 2023, the deal has been on hold.
Many experts are speculating that biotechnology will become a new area of contention between China and the United States, following artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G and other fields. However, such adversarial relationships ultimately harm the interests of biotech companies and ordinary people. In the future, we hope that there will be more communication rather than conflict, and more cooperation than confrontation.
Resources
1. The draft biosecurity law has not settled, and WuXi AppTec announced that it intends to repurchase 1 billion yuan to deal with market turmoil.
2.Biotech is the new focus in U.S.-China tech rivalry. Axios
3.To prohibit contracting with certain biotechnology providers, and for other
purposes.
4.Congress Introduces Bill to Prevent Medical Providers From Using BGI, MGI and Affiliates' Products.genomeweb.
5. U.S. Observation|Biotechnology: A New Field of U.S.-China Competition and Cooperation?.Fudan U.S.-China Friendship, Mutual Trust and Cooperation Program.