NEW YORK – The US House of Representatives passed the Biosecure Act on Monday evening, bringing lawmakers' intention to curb certain "foreign adversary biotech companies of US national security concern" a step closer to reality.
Introduced by the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the bill garnered bipartisan support on Monday and passed by a vote of 306 to 81. Of these, 195 Republicans voted in favor with two in opposition, while Democrats cast 111 yeas and 79 nays.
With the passage of the bill on the House floor, it is now up to the Senate to vote on the corresponding legislation, though it remains to be seen if or when the Senate will formally vote on their version of the bill.
Initially proposed in January, the Biosecure Act aims to ban federal funding for products manufactured or services provided by the so-called "foreign adversary biotech companies of concern," including BGI Group, its affiliate MGI Tech, and MGI subsidiary Complete Genomics, along with WuXi AppTec, which it says is affiliated with China's People's Liberation Army.
Entities targeted in the bill, including BGI Group and MGI Tech, have vehemently dismissed the allegations brought by the lawmakers.
In May, a new version of the bill was introduced, extending the deadline to 2032 for existing customers to dissociate from China-related companies listed in the bill. In addition, WuXi Biologics was added to the list.
Since its inception, the Biosecure Act has stirred controversy, with supporters claiming the bill would bolster US biotech industry security and patient data privacy. Meanwhile, opponents, including many researchers, believe the bill is not transparent in why it names the companies, would hamper competition, and, at least in part, lacks scientific basis.
"The companies named in this legislation create significant risks to the US national security," House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said in support of the bill. "It is critical we pass the Biosecure Act before more harm is done."
"If we are going to name companies, there ought to be a clear, transparent process that is implemented the same for all companies," said U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., speaking in opposition to the bill on the House floor.
"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," a spokesperson for Complete Genomics wrote in an email, adding that the inclusion of Complete Genomics in the bill "will hurt researchers, stifle competition, and violate the US Constitution by singling out and targeting individual companies without due process."
"The bill is a false flag targeting companies under the premise of national security, but, in reality, it will strengthen the monopoly in the genomics market held by one dominant US player that has been lobbying for the bill," a spokesperson for the BGI Group wrote in an email.
As previously reported, Illumina has lobbied for the bill while BGI Group and Complete Genomics have separately lobbied against the legislative efforts, according to federal disclosures.