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During my 12 years in the U.S. Senate, I fought to ensure the United States dominated the global biotech industry. I did so not only because that leadership helps save American lives and drive economic growth, but also because it’s critical for our national security.
When American companies are second to none, we can respond quickly to public health emergencies without depending on foreign adversaries. I’ll always be proud that, in my role as chairman of the subcommittee overseeing the National Institutes of Health, I worked with colleagues in both parties to secure a nearly 50% increase in agency funding and accelerate research progress. That investment paid off during the Covid-19 pandemic, when President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed built on NIH initiatives to help end the pandemic and save countless American lives.
That’s why I’m worried about a well-intended, but counterproductive, new proposal from the Treasury Department that would restrict U.S. companies’ biotech investments in China.
It’s meant to enhance our national security by preventing American resources from building up China’s already growing biotech capabilities. Yet as written, the proposal is so broad that it could hurt American biotech companies far more than it hurts Chinese ones.
By hampering U.S. companies’ ability to develop breakthrough medicines as efficiently and quickly as possible, the proposal risks harming American patients and undermining our national security.
American drugmakers have often used acquisitions, joint ventures, and other partnerships to bring promising discoveries made abroad into our own research and development pipeline. As Chinese firms develop an increasing share of the world’s innovative drug candidates, these partnerships have only grown in their strategic importance.
These arrangements give American patients greater opportunities to participate in clinical trials and potentially gain access to lifesaving treatments. They also give American companies greater influence over how and where new medicines are developed and manufactured, helping secure reliable supplies.
Far from making America dependent on China, these partnerships keep American firms at the top of the global leaderboard, and ensure that China relies on the United States for medicines. In 2025, the United States recorded a $3.7 billion trade surplus with China in pharmaceuticals.
In late October, the Treasury Department proposed expanding the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act, which limits U.S. investments in strategically sensitive Chinese industries, to cover the biotech sector writ large. That would broadly prevent U.S. companies from investing in, acquiring, or partnering with Chinese biotech firms.
Those broad restrictions are more likely to weaken the United States than China. If U.S. firms are functionally banned from partnering with Chinese biotechs, those Chinese firms won’t simply abandon their promising discoveries. Instead, they’ll seek to partner with American companies’ global rivals—or focus on building out their own research, manufacturing, and commercialization capabilities to replace the need for American partners.
Over time, America could lose influence over the development and supply of the next generation of innovative medicines. Patients could face longer waits for promising treatments and fewer opportunities to participate in clinical trials.
Our country could also become more reliant on foreign companies for access to future innovative drugs—a potentially serious national security vulnerability.
Treasury officials would be wise to narrow their proposal to focus on biotech deals that pose clear security threats—such as agreements involving technologies that could be used to produce biological weapons—without blocking ordinary research partnerships.
Treasury must also clearly define which arrangements are prohibited. Although the proposal is designed to allow standard licensing agreements, its broad language suggests that partnerships with common licensing terms could potentially be treated as prohibited joint ventures. That uncertainty could force companies to walk away from useful partnerships.
At the same time, policymakers should devote more attention to strengthening America’s own scientific capabilities. That means sustaining federal investment in scientific research, strengthening our intellectual property system, safeguarding our research institutions from foreign interference, and expanding domestic research and manufacturing capacity.
President Trump and his administration are right to be wary of China’s ambitions. But America can’t preserve its biotech lead by cutting itself off from promising advances made overseas.
By targeting genuine security threats while preserving beneficial research partnerships, we can strengthen America’s national security and ensure that American patients continue to benefit from the world’s most promising medical discoveries.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
