The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday (May 10) amended a bill aimed at restricting American business dealings with certain Chinese biotechnology companies, including WuXi AppTec and BGI. The revised legislation will require U.S. companies to terminate their collaborations with these companies by 2032 and will expand the list of restricted entities.
According to a copy seen by Reuters, the latest version of the Biosecure Act also includes WuXi Biologics on the list of scrutinized biotech companies. Other listed companies include BGI, MGI, and their American subsidiaries Complete Genomics, and WuXi AppTec.
A spokesperson for the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability stated that the revised bill will be introduced on Friday and is expected to be considered by the U.S. House committee next week.
The bill is expected to undergo committee evaluation on Wednesday (May 15), which is a procedural step in its potential path to becoming law. In March of this year, a committee in the Senate approved a similar bill. Following the approval of this bill, WuXi AppTec’s stock price fell approximately 36% on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and about 54% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, prompting a sell-off of their shares.
These bills are aimed at preventing foreign entities from obtaining Americans’ health and genetic personal information.
John Crowley, CEO of the industry association BIO, stated in a release that the latest bill “highlights a critical vulnerability in our global supply chain and importantly provides a reasonable time frame for companies to break free from reliance on biomanufacturing in China.”
In March, Reuters reported based on information from two insiders that in late February, U.S. intelligence officials informed federal lawmakers drafting a biotechnology security bill that the Chinese pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec had provided data of an American customer to the Chinese authorities without consent, infringing on U.S. intellectual property.
These sources said that activities conducted by WuXi AppTec and other Chinese companies in the U.S. pose a threat to U.S. national security interests. The FBI, State Department, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed more than a dozen federal senators in secret.
Reuters had previously reported that BGI collects genetic data from millions of women for comprehensive population characteristic research and collaborates with the Chinese military.