Biosecure Act

Last updated

The Biosecure Act, or H.R. 8333, was a bill introduced during the 118th United States Congress that prohibits entities that receive federal funds from using biotechnology that is from a company associated with a U.S. foreign adversary. [1] However, the bill was not included in the last legislation during the 118 United States Congress and as a result, it did not become law in 2024. [2]

Contents

Bill summary

The Biosecure Act prohibits entities that receive federal funds from using biotechnology that is from a company associated with a foreign adversary.

Specifically, U.S. federal agencies and recipients of federal funds (e.g., grantees) may not procure or use any biotechnology equipment or service that is from a biotechnology company of concern and may not contract with any entities that do so. A biotechnology company of concern is defined in this bill as "an entity that is under the control of a foreign adversary and that poses a risk to national security based on its research or multiomic data collection (e.g., collection of genomic information)." [1]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must, in coordination with the Department of Defense (DOD) and other specified agencies, develop a list of prohibited companies; the list must include five particular companies, as specified in the bill. OMB and DOD may approve waivers of these restrictions on an as-needed basis, which are valid for up to one year and may be extended once for an additional 180 days.

In addition, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence must report on the national security risks posed by (1) multiomic data collection by foreign adversaries in connection with biotechnology equipment or services, and (2) biotechnology companies that have such data.

Legislative support and activity

In May 2024, Representatives Brad Wenstrup and Raja Krishnamoorthy introduced H.R. 8333 in the U.S. House of Representatives. [3] Upon introducing the legislation, the lawmakers said:

"The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) national security laws require all Chinese firms to share any requested data with the CCP, including biotechnology companies that collect, test, and store American genomic data. Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a company in the People's Republic of China (PRC), has collected DNA from millions around the world and used that data without consent on genomic projects conducted by the Chinese military. Chinese company WuXi AppTec has sponsored events with China's military, reportedly stolen U.S. IP, and jointly operated genetic collection sites with China's military." [3]

Upon introduction, the bill was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability. [1] [4] On May 15, 2024, the Committee advanced the bill in a 40–1 vote, demonstrating unusually high bipartisan support. [5] [6]

On September 9, 2024. the U.S. House passed the Biosecure Act by a vote of 306–81, well exceeding the two-thirds vote required to pass. [7] The bill was then sent to the U.S. Senate and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. [1]

In December 2024, WuXi AppTec announced that it would sell its Oxford Genetics and WuXi Advanced Therapies to a U.S.-based private equity firm, [8] reportedly due to the Biosecure Act which is deterring potential clients. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act</span> Act of the 106th United States Congress (1999–2001)

The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, is an act of the 106th United States Congress (1999–2001). It repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, removing barriers in the market among banking companies, securities companies, and insurance companies that prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination of an investment bank, a commercial bank, and an insurance company. With the passage of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, commercial banks, investment banks, securities firms, and insurance companies were allowed to consolidate. Furthermore, it failed to give to the SEC or any other financial regulatory agency the authority to regulate large investment bank holding companies. The legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Eshoo</span> American politician (born 1942)

Anna A. Eshoo is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for California's 16th congressional district from 1993 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 18th district from 2013 to 2023, is based in Silicon Valley, including the cities of Redwood City, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Palo Alto, as well as part of San Jose. Eshoo is the only Assyrian-American in Congress and the only Armenian American woman in Congress. On November 21, 2023, she announced she would not seek re-election in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Lofgren</span> American politician and lawyer (born 1947)

Susan Ellen "Zoe" Lofgren is an American politician and lawyer serving as a U.S. representative from California. A member of the Democratic Party, Lofgren is in her 15th term in Congress, having been first elected in 1994. Lofgren has long served on the House Judiciary Committee, and chaired the House Administration Committee in the 116th and 117th Congresses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BGI Group</span> Chinese genome sequencing company

BGI Group, formerly Beijing Genomics Institute, is a Chinese genomics company with headquarters in Yantian, Shenzhen. The company was originally formed in 1999 as a genetics research center to participate in the Human Genome Project. It also sequences the genomes of other animals, plants and microorganisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006</span>

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 is an Act of Congress that requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007. The website USAspending.gov opened in December 2007 as a result of the act, and is maintained by the Office of Management and Budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates S. 2590 will cost $15 million over its authorized time period of 2007–2011.

WuXi AppTec is a global pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Wenstrup</span> American politician (born 1958)

Brad Robert Wenstrup is an American politician, U.S. Army Reserve officer, and doctor of podiatric medicine, who served as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2025. A Republican, he upset incumbent U.S. representative Jean Schmidt to win the 2012 Republican primary election. In November 2023, he announced he would not seek re-election in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act</span> Unpassed United States bill

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act was a proposed law in the United States which would allow for the sharing of Internet traffic information between the U.S. government and technology and manufacturing companies. The stated aim of the bill is to help the U.S. government investigate cyber threats and ensure the security of networks against cyberattacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Brooks</span> American politician

Susan Lynn Brooks is an American prosecutor and politician. She is a Republican and the former U.S. Representative for Indiana's 5th congressional district. She was elected in 2012. The district includes the northern fifth of Indianapolis, as well as many of the city's affluent northern and eastern suburbs. Brooks served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana from 2001 to 2007.

Hannes Smárason is an Icelandic executive and entrepreneur who served as the executive vice president and senior business and finance officer of deCODE genetics from in late 1900s and the early 2000s and the chairman and CEO of Icelandair and its parent company FL Group in the mid to late 2000s. In October 2013 Hannes co-founded and was named CEO of NextCode Health, a startup formed to apply the massive genomics database developed by deCode Genetics to patient care. Hannes negotiated the sale of NextCode to WuXi AppTech and later became CEO of WuXi NextCode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014</span>

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 is a law that aims to make information on federal expenditures more easily accessible and transparent. The law requires the U.S. Department of the Treasury to establish common standards for financial data provided by all government agencies and to expand the amount of data that agencies must provide to the government website, USASpending. The goal of the law is to improve the ability of Americans to track and understand how the government is spending their tax dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act of 2015</span>

The Strengthening Public Health Emergency Response Act of 2015, H.R. 3299, is a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would streamline government decisions and provide incentives for vaccines and treatment of dangerous pathogens and diseases. The bill was introduced by Representatives Susan Brooks (R-IN) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ByteDance</span> Chinese internet technology company

ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Waltz</span> American politician (born 1974)

Michael George Glen Waltz is an American politician, businessman, author, and colonel in the United States Army who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 6th congressional district since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party and is the first "Green Beret" to be elected to the United States Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WuXi Biologics</span> Chinese pharmaceutical company

WuXi Biologics is a global Contract Research Development and Manufacturing Organization (CRDMO) that provides open-access, integrated technology platforms for biologics drug development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act</span> United States sanctions law

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a United States federal law that changed U.S. policy on China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with the goal of ensuring that American entities are not funding forced labor among ethnic minorities in the region. It was signed into law in December 2021 and took effect in June 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Innovation and Choice Online Act</span> Proposed American antitrust bill

The AmericanInnovationandChoiceOnline (AICO) is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced by David Cicilline (D-RI) in the House of Representatives as the AmericanChoiceandInnovationOnline Act on June 11, 2021. On October 14, 2021, companion legislation in the Senate was introduced by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as S.2992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ge Li</span> Chinese American entrepreneur and philanthropist

Ge Li is a Chinese American entrepreneur and philanthropist, who is the founder and chairman of WuXi AppTec, a contract pharmaceutical research firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGI (company)</span> Chinese biotechnology company

MGI or MGI Tech is a Chinese biotechnology company, which provides a line of products and technologies that serves the genetic sequencing, genotyping and gene expression, and proteomics markets. Its headquarters are located in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act</span> United States legislation

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) is an act of Congress that was signed into law on April 24, 2024, as part of Public Law 118-50. It would ban social networking services within 270 to 360 days if they are determined by the president of the United States and relevant provisions to be a "foreign adversary controlled application"; the definition covers websites and application software, including mobile apps. The act explicitly applies to ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries—including TikTok—without the need for additional determination. It ceases to be applicable if the foreign adversary controlled application is divested and no longer considered to be controlled by a foreign adversary of the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "H.R.8333 - BIOSECURE Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  2. ↑ "BIOSECURE stalls, will not become law in 2024". JD Supra. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  3. 1 2 "Reps. Wenstrup & Krishnamoorthi Introduce Bipartisan BIOSECURE Act to Safeguard American Patients and Tax Dollars from Biotechnology Firms in China". U.S. Representative. 2024-05-10. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  4. ↑ "Updated BIOSECURE Act Scheduled For Committee Vote". Ohio Clock. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  5. ↑ "Reps. Eshoo Applauds 40-1 Committee Vote on the BIOSECURE Act | Congresswoman Anna Eshoo". eshoo.house.gov. 2024-05-16. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  6. ↑ Freifeld, Karen (May 15, 2024). "US House committee advances bill to restrict BGI, WuXi AppTec".
  7. ↑ "BIOSECURE Act Passed in the House of Representatives with a 306-81 Vote | Insights | Ropes & Gray LLP". www.ropesgray.com. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  8. ↑ "China's WuXi to sell Advanced Therapies unit amid US restrictions". Reuters . December 24, 2024. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  9. ↑ Barnes, Oliver; Fontanella-Khan, James; Olcott, Eleanor (October 3, 2024). "China's WuXi explores sale of pharma units as US restrictions loom". Financial Times . Retrieved December 25, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.