WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers called on the Biden administration to consider restricting the export of U.S. biotechnology to the Chinese military, citing concerns Beijing could weaponize it to create more toxic pathogens.
In a letter dated Thursday and first reported by Reuters, the lawmakers, led by Republican China Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, asked Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to study imposing a licensing restriction on U.S. pharmaceutical companies working with Chinese medical entities under military ownership.
Biotech competition between the U.S. and China "will not only have implications for our national and economic security, but also for the future of healthcare and the security of American medical data," reads the letter signed also by Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, who serves as ranking member on the same committee, as well as Republican Neal Dunn.
The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment, but Raimondo's tenure ends later this month so it is unlikely she will have time to impose any new controls on biotech. Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said the allegations "are full of malicious speculation" about China, adding that Beijing "firmly opposes any country's development, possession or use of biological weapons."
The letter is a sign of growing concern over China's role in the biotechnology industry.
In August, the same lawmakers plus Democrat Anna Eshoo called on the Food and Drug Administration to ramp up scrutiny of U.S. clinical trials conducted in China, citing the risk of intellectual property theft and the possibility of forced participation of members of China's Uyghur minority group.
They said U.S. drug companies have collaborated with Chinese military-run hospitals to conduct hundreds of clinical trials over the last decade, including in Xinjiang, home to the Uyghurs.
In a response letter to the lawmakers dated Jan. 2, the FDA Acting Associate Commissioner for Legislative Affairs Laura Paulos said protections are in place for trial participants.
"Given concerns regarding the human rights abuses occurring in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, FDA has publicly reiterated that (legislation) requires clinical trials to obtain the legally effective, informed consent of human subjects," she wrote.
In response to concerns about intellectual property theft and technology transfer, Paulos referred the lawmakers to "appropriate U.S. federal agency partners."