The following is an excerpt from MassBio CEO and President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell’s First Opinion op-ed in STAT+ that was originally published on September 12, 2024 for subscribers:
BIOSECURE proponents argue that allowing the Chinese Communist Party access to U.S. patient information is a national security concern, as is the overreliance on China for drug development. They aren’t wrong. Protecting that information and being able to make our own medicines should be a national priority.
However, we need to be thoughtful about implementing such a massive change, especially one for which we are not prepared. The Senate should only pass BIOSECURE if it comes with significant funding and flexibility to safeguard a leading U.S. industry.
Bringing control of drug development, clinical trials, and manufacturing fully back to the United States requires substantial financial investments and a strategic realignment of talent, resources, and time. A simple ban, like that of TikTok, would not only harm thousands of biotech companies around the country, but also the millions of patients waiting for new medicines.
Undertaking an industrywide shift like this is not unprecedented. In fact, we should look to the recent CHIPS and Science Act of 2021 as a guide. The CHIPS Act is another bill driven by the nexus of national security and economic priorities. That legislation addressed two main concerns: a heavy reliance on foreign, and at times adversarial, countries for production, and the private sector’s inability to justify investing tens of billions of dollars in local manufacturing and research.
Pursuing a similar solutions-oriented path for biomanufacturing can effectively address security concerns while also strengthening our domestic supply chains.