In May, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability reported the BIOSECURE Act, a bill intended to protect Americans’ genetic data from Chinese data mining, with a bipartisan vote of approval. In a new insight, Health Care Policy Analyst John Walker walks through how the bill would work and notes its potential harms.

Key points:

• The bill would prohibit federal agencies from procuring biotech equipment or services from “biotech companies of concern,” as well as from contracting with an entity that uses said equipment or services; it would also place similar prohibitions on federal loan and grant dollars.
• While the bill’s protections may be needed, it would significantly restrict U.S. access to critical drugs.
• Congress should first prioritize strengthening U.S. domestic pharmaceutical and active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing to prevent exacerbating critical-drug shortages and a future reliance on undependable international drug exports.

Read the analysis