Senate bill seeks to curb US reliance on China in drug industry
Lawmakers want more transparency around foreign influence in the sector, saying there’s no reason to allow rival to control supply chain
Bipartisan US senators on Wednesday unveiled legislation aimed at increasing transparency around foreign influence in the pharmaceutical industry, amid growing concerns over US dependence on China for critical drug ingredients and medical supply chains.
“There is no reason why we should be letting our adversary, Communist China, … control our medicine supply chain,” Senator Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, said. “Right now, we are very dependent.”
The Pharmaceutical Investment Oversight and Accountability Act would require the Federal Trade Commission, in consultation with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), to submit an annual report to Congress examining foreign investment in the US pharmaceutical industry.
The report would assess the impact of reliance on foreign manufacturing on the supply chain; how foreign investment affects domestic drug production; and the impact of foreign investment in DNA sequencing and storage technologies.
