US Lawmakers Warn of China's Growing Influence in Biotech Supply Chain

The Financial Times reported on May 31 that US lawmakers and some investors have issued warnings about American pharmaceutical companies' increasing reliance on China, fearing that China may replicate the rare earths scenario in the new drug supply chain, significantly increasing the possibility of national security restrictions on investments in Chinese biotech.

The report indicated that Pfizer has become the latest US pharmaceutical giant to announce collaborations with Chinese biotech companies for drug development. Pfizer announced last week that it would pay $650 million to Innovent Biologics, based in Suzhou, to acquire several cancer drugs. The deal could be worth up to $10.5 billion to Innovent Biologics if commercial and regulatory goals are met.

On May 21, Republican Representative John Moolenaar asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to include biotechnology in a national security bill for 2025 aimed at restricting US investment in countries including China.

Moolenaar specifically pointed to a deal reached on May 12 between Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Chinese pharmaceutical company Hengrui Medicine. This deal, which involves paying $950 million for Hengrui's drugs and granting the company options to co-develop drugs with BMS, has shocked industry insiders.

Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, stated that US funding and technology are dangerously flowing into China's biotechnology sector. "I urge the Treasury Department to give special consideration to transactions involving the licensing of pharmaceutical intellectual property." Meanwhile, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating the potential national support provided by the Chinese government to its biotech enterprises and its impact on US companies.

Facing pressure from the patent expiration of blockbuster drugs, European and American pharmaceutical giants are turning to China for R&D support. The number of deals where Chinese pharmaceutical companies sell assets overseas reached a historic high in 2025. According to data from information provider Evaluate, so far this year, pharmaceutical companies such as AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, and Sanofi have paid a total of $2.5 billion in upfront cash to Chinese companies to access drugs. Although these deals do not include equity investments, they could be worth billions of dollars to Chinese companies if the drugs reach specific targets.

Biotech industry insiders have already sounded the alarm about the pharmaceutical industry's reliance on China. The former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated earlier this year, "The biggest threat we face in the pharmaceutical sector is China."