The US House of Representatives on Monday evening passed the Biosecure Act with broad bipartisan support, advancing a controversial bill that could upend many drugmakers’ supply chains.
The bipartisan bill passed by a vote of 306-81, including 111 Democrats who supported it. But the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which has its own version of the legislation. The House’s bill would force biopharma companies to cut ties or restrict their work with contract manufacturers WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics and three genetic sequencing companies by 2032.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) said on the House floor on Monday that the companies named in the bill have conducted research alongside the Chinese military, saying WuXi “has reportedly stolen US firms’ intellectual property.”
“This bill is a necessary step toward protecting Americans’ sensitive healthcare data from the CCP before these companies become more embedded in the US economy,” Comer added.
In financial filings, dozens of small and large companies have flagged WuXi companies as being their only contract manufacturer for some products, and have warned that changes could lead to delays in drug development or procurement.
WuXi has opposed the bill, claiming it’s not linked to the Chinese military. But Congress has become wary of CCP-backed companies sharing intellectual property with the Chinese government.
The bill passed despite opposition from James McGovern (D-MA), ranking member of the House Rules Committee, who issued a letter to members of Congress urging them to vote no. McGovern’s district is home to a WuXi Biologics manufacturing plant that, according to the company, will employ about 600 people following a recent planned expansion.
Some of the companies named in the bill might be of concern, and some might not be, McGovern said on the House floor on Monday. There should have been a clear, transparent process by which the companies are being named by name, he said, noting that regulatory agencies are afraid the bill may push bad actors to reincorporate under different names.
It’s still unclear whether the Senate will take up the House version of Biosecure or a different version of it, or if it will be attached to a larger bill like the government spending bill that has to pass before the end of this month.
In March, the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced its own version of the Biosecure Act that would only give biotech companies about a year and a half to transition away from the WuXi companies and other China-based ones known as “companies of concern.”
Industry group Biotechnology Innovation Organization backs Biosecure and, in particular the House’s 2032 timeline, although the industry lobbying group previously opposed the act when it was first introduced.
Complete Genomics told Endpoints News via email after the vote, “We are deeply disappointed but not entirely surprised that geopolitics instead of facts drove the House passage of the BIOSECURE Act, leaving the Senate in these final months of the session burdened with having to fix this broken and flawed bill.”