The following is an excerpt from the Boston Globe, originally published online on Friday, April 4, 2025:
In the meantime, a major unanswered question is whether the raw materials many biotechs purchase from low-cost suppliers in countries like China and India will be subject to tariffs even if end products, such as medicines, antibiotics, and vaccines, are excluded. These precursor products are often the active ingredients in protein-based biotech drugs that are injected or infused in patients with genetic diseases.
A lengthy annex to President Trump’s executive order establishing the tariffs listed many exempted drug compounds, but drug makers were seeking clarity on whether the materials they buy were included.
In a statement, Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, chief executive of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, said the council was evaluating the impact of tariffs on patients and drug makers at a challenging time for the industry. Biotech hiring remains soft and startups are struggling to raise capital amid unleased lab space and plunging share prices.
“Many biopharma companies in Massachusetts have complex global operations, with products often crossing borders multiple times before final therapies reach patients,” she said. “Proposed tariffs could only drive up costs at every step of this process, in turn raising health care and treatment prices — not just in Massachusetts, but nationwide.”