Some of the most widely used drug contractors are based in China. But the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry may eventually be pushed to cut ties with those partners if the Biosecure Act, which passed in the House of Representatives last week, becomes law.The act would effectively prohibit U.S. companies from doing business with five Chinese firms, including WuXi AppTec, Complete Genomics and MGI Tech. In the Houses version, companies with existing contracts are given eight years to sever ties. The bill also allows Congress to add more companies to its list as it weighs perceived connections between the Chinese government and U.S. drug industry, as well as cybersecurity and intellectual property concerns.Still, the path forward for the bill isnt entirely secure. There were more no votes than in expected in the Houses 306-81 passage, which could suggest a tougher path in the Senate.It did not pass as overwhelmingly as it had passed out of committee, said Nielsen Hobbs, an analyst with Citeline. It's both an indication of some softness of support, as well as an invitation for folks [who] want to make modifications to try and do so.Its unclear if the Senate plans to vote on the bill or if theres enough time left in the year for the legislation to make its way into law. A lame duck Congress is less likely to push through substantive bills after the U.S. elections in November, too.This is probably not going to pass before the election, Hobbs predicted.Even with a murky future, U.S. biotechs are preparing for a potential disentanglement from some of their largest Chinese contractors.U.S. biotech exposureChina is a linchpin in pharmas global supply chain, making up about 13% of active pharmaceutical ingreident manufacturers. Two companies named in the Biosecure Act WuXi Apptec and WuXi Biologics are particularly well known as U.S. biotech partners. And if U.S. companies are forced to end their relationships with WuXi, there could be widespread ripple effects.Many U.S. companies are now disclosing their relationships with the target firms in securities filings. For example, Nuvalent, Viridian Therapeutics and Cabaletta Bio have each said they could see disruptions as a result of the Biosecure Act because they partner with one or more of the named Chinese companies.Iteos Therapeutics said in a securities filing that it has begun the process of transitioning from WuXi to other manufacturers. However, the biotech noted the process may take longer than expected due to difficulties with technology transfer.Sage Therapeutics, which gained an FDA approval for its postpartum depression med with Biogen last year, said the act could potentially disrupt its research activities and clinical trial partners.To some, any contract with a Chinese firm could be a risk. Liver and cardiometabolic-focused biotech 89bio, which contracted with Chinas BiBo Biopharma Engineering to build a plant for production of its MASH drug earlier this year, has said its exposed to the possibility of product supply disruption and increased costs as a result of the Biosecure Act. BiBo Biopharma was not named in the Houses bill.Amid this uncertainty, biotechs are preparing for changes.Everyone is wisely anticipating it will pass and that they're going to have less time than they might hope to make this kind of transition, Hobbs said. It's always difficult to create business plans in this climate of uncertainty.Large pharma companies also face risks. Eli Lilly has tapped WuXi Apptec to produce some of the ingredients in its blockbuster GLP-1 obesity medications, while GSK inked a licensing deal potentially worth nearly $1.5 billion with WuXi Biologics last year for up to four bi- and multi-specific TCE antibodies developed using WuXis platform.GSK and Lilly did not respond to a request for comment from PharmaVoice.The industrys largest trade association, PhRMA, aims to work with Congress to avoid any drug supply disruptions.Biopharmaceutical manufacturers are committed to working constructively with Congress to help protect national and economic interests and make sure patients are not unintentionally impacted with potential drug shortages or disruptions to medicine R&D, Megan Van Etten, deputy vice president of public affairs at PhRMA, said in an email.Biotechs prepareNot all biotechs expect the worst. Jonathan Kil, CEO of Seattle-based Sound Pharmaceuticals, has doubts the bill will pass in the Senate and views WuXi as a safe partner after collaborating with the Chinese company for 18 years.WuXi has been inspected by the FDA hundreds of times, he said.Still, for Kil, the timing isn't ideal. Sound recently completed a study for its lead candidate, an anti-inflammatory drug for Mnire's disease. Sound plans to release study results later this year and pursue FDA approval soon after. Cutting ties with WuXi would be a major hurdle to commercialization, should Sounds drug reach market.The cost of switching contractors would be high for a small biotech like Sound. Even exploring partnerships with other CROs has been costly in one case, the company sunk $500,000 into making sure a partnership would have worked in the first place.After that initial time, money and effort, you still wont know if the new CRO can scale pre-commercially yet thats another $500,000 to $1,000,000 and another nine to 12 months, Kil said. Its a stepwise process with a lot of internal controls.WuXi, for its part, has denied any wrongdoing and stated it does not collect genomic data, a top concern cited by lawmakers.We firmly believe that WuXi AppTec has not posed, does not pose, and will not pose a security risk to the United States or any other country and it has not been subject to any sanction by the U.S. government agencies, the company said in a statement last week. '