Even as the Biden Administration's BIOSECURE Act, the proposed piece of legislation in the United States aimed at restricting certain Chinese biotech equipment and service providers from accessing the U.S. market due to national security concerns. The bill specifically targets companies like WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics, which are significant R&D and manufacturing contractors in the biopharma industry, as well as a few genomics sequencing firms. The overarching concern driving the act is the potential risk posed by Chinese entities in the biopharma sector, which could have implications for U.S. national security. navigates the legislative process, the draft bill has already had a significant impact on the perception of Chinese partners in the US biopharma business.

A new poll by L.E.K.  Consulting shows that US-based medical sciences firms' confidence in dealing with Chinese companies has plummeted by between 30% and 50%.  According to the survey, firms outside the United States are less concerned, with confidence levels falling by about 20% to 30%.

To calculate the confidence metric, the L.E.K.  team asked biopharma companies to rank their trust in working with Chinese partners on a scale of 0 to 10.  The researchers averaged the responses and compared them to baseline values from before the BIOSECURE Act talks.

U.S. companies' confidence in dealing with Chinese CDMOs dropped the most, at 49%, compared to 32% for CRO partners and 36% for drug developer partners. The proposed BIOSECURE Act seeks to exclude some Chinese biotech equipment and service suppliers from the US market due to national security concerns.

 Currently, the law only includes WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics, key R&D and production contractors in the industry, along with a few genomics sequencing organizations, raising concerns about the potential addition of other Chinese enterprises in the future. Senators requested an intelligence briefing, raising the remote possibility that the crackdown may include biotech medication companies.

Already, 26% of the 73 health sciences companies polled by L.E.K. stated they were planning to transition away from their Chinese partners, despite the fact that only 2% had begun the process.

 Furthermore, 16% of US corporations stated that they would only accept non-Chinese partners for future projects.  L.E.K.  polled biopharma drug inventors, life science contractors, and investors.

Surprisingly, 11% of questioned enterprises indicated no influence on their decision-making, which L.E.K.  attributed to the bill's uncertainty.  Some corporations may not have any Chinese partners; in L.E.K.'s survey, these enterprises accounted for 13% of respondents.  Some drugmakers, like Takeda, already have separate supply networks for the Chinese market.

Would BIO support a biosecurity bill that targets drug developers?  According to CEO John Crowley  The bill has garnered widespread bipartisan support.  The Senate and House committees voted 11-1 and 40-1 in favour of the bill, respectively.  However, an attempt to include it as an amendment to the 2025 National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) failed in June, casting doubt on the bill's future fate.

"While this Act's passage before the 2024 US presidential election is unlikely, the advanced planning and the long cycles of the biopharma industry demand that the biopharmas, their service providers, and their investors consider the consequences of this significant regulatory action," said the L.E.K.  team in a piece that analysed the study's outcomes.

According to L.E.K.  's poll, 68% of respondents have already adjusted their operations, including raising legal and compliance standards for Chinese partners, broadening collaborations in other countries, and implementing background checks for existing partners.