The US House of Representatives voted on the BIOSECURE Act, passing the bill by exceeding the needed 2/3 majority. The bill achieved broad bipartisan support and passed with a 306 to 81 vote. The bill will now move to the US Senate to determine whether to enact a law that will prohibit specific Chinese biotechnology companies from doing business with the US.

BGI, WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics, MGI, and Complete Genomics are the five companies with Chinese ties named in the act. If passed into law, the list of blacklisted companies will be subject to an annual evaluation and can be modified by the director of the Office of Management and Budget in coordination with other government entities. Active partnerships between American companies and Chinese contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) will be allowed to remain in place until 2032.

The BIOSECURE Act seeks to safeguard data and protect American company intellectual property (IP) that could be threatened by China.

Cosponsor James Comer from Kentucky addressed his fellow representatives in support of the Act. “This bill is a necessary step toward protecting American’s sensitive healthcare data from the [Chinese Communist Party] CCP before these companies become more embedded in the US economy, university system, and federal contracting base.”

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois also cosponsored the bill. He gave impassioned examples of Chinese biotechnology companies acting against American interests. “US Intel has shown that WuXi AppTec has secretly transferred US IP to Chinese authorities in Beijing,” he said. He further denounced BGI for harvesting DNA data from 8 million pregnant women without consent, including Americans. He then shared a photograph of WuXi Biologics CEO Chris Chen, stating that it was taken when the business leader was teaching a class with Chen Wei, director of the Chinese military’s Biological Engineering Research Institute.

The only representative to speak out against the bill was Massachusetts representative James McGovern, who represents the state district where WuXi Biologics operates. Before doing so, he reenforced his position as a firm critic of China, boasting that the Chinese government had sanctioned him for his outspoken opinion on the CCP and its practices.

“I deeply regret having to rise in opposition to this bill, but I feel that I need to, and I want to be clear as to why.” He said that as it was written, the bill was not ready for “prime time.” He called for it to be shelved and rewritten, presenting an array of arguments against the bill.

He drew a distinction between WuXi Biologics and WuXi Apptec, which other representatives verbally balked at, noting crossover in the leadership roles of Chris Chen who has worked with both companies.

McGovern also stated that some of the companies mentioned do not deal with sensitive data and should not be subjected to the same rules.

His arguments echoed those found on Complete Genomic’s website, where cofounder and CSO Rade Drmanac said in May, “We are a manufacturer of genomic sequencing instruments, not a sequencing service provider. Any information created by using our sequencers is maintained and controlled by our customers who have sole control and responsibility for safeguarding the privacy of the data they generate.”

McGovern expressed concern about the pharmaceutical supply chain, stating that a disruption could lead to “higher prices and less availability.” He called for expanded drug production with government incentives for domestic companies.

Earlier this year, Brad Stewart, national leader for life sciences at BDO USA, raised similar concerns when he spoke with BioProcess Insider at the BIO International Convention in San Diego, CA. “The BIOSECURE Act [would create] significant challenges to our supply chains,” he said during a larger discussion about the act.

McGovern also cited a lack of due process and transparency in how companies of concern were chosen, comparing the process to how China itself would exercise power.

“The Chinese Communist Party does not get due process in America,” said Brad Winstrup, representative of Ohio in support of the bill.

The BIOSECURE Act passed a short time later.