House of Representatives

“The United States is locked in a competition with China that will define the coming century,” National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology Chair Senator Todd Young said.\n A U.S. congressional commission has made the case for “swift action” to maintain the nation’s role as a biotech superpower, while warning the sector is “dangerously close to falling behind China.”The report was published Tuesday by the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB), an independent commission that includes two members of the Senate and two from the House of Representatives split by party alongside “seven prominent industry leaders, academic experts, and former government officials from the defense and intelligence communities.”The commission’s main recommendation is for the government to dedicate $15 billion over the next five years to “unleash more private capital into our national biotechnology sector.” This is one of a number of areas where the report\'s authors argue the U.S. needs to adopt a “more proactive posture” to biotech.“Twenty years ago, the [Chinese government] made biotechnology a strategic priority,” the commission said in its report. “The U.S. government’s approach has been piecemeal and uncoordinated, and we still lack the high-level departmental and agency leadership we need to execute a national biotechnology strategy.”In practice, this would involve Congress setting up a National Biotechnology Coordination Office in the Executive Office of the President, which would be empowered to “coordinate interagency actions on biotechnology competition and regulation.”The report contains a raft of measures that Congress could enact to “leverage our capital markets to advance national biotechnology priorities.” These include creating “simple pathways” for drugs to market, establishing an investment fund for tech startups that strengthen national security and defining biotechs’ data as “critical infrastructure.” When it comes to accessing these data, the report recommends that the Department of Energy create a single point of entry. Meanwhile, Congress should direct the Department of Energy and the Department of Health and Human Services to “smooth out unpredictable and inconsistent demand for biotechnology products through advance market commitments (AMCs) and offtake agreements and provide new authorities where necessary,” the report’s authors said.As well as its use in health, the document sets out a wide range of ways that biotech could contribute to national defense and resilience aims. It cited applications such as reshoring the production of chemicals used in munitions, synthesizing food for soldiers on the front lines and helping miners unlock deposits of key minerals.With one eye on China, the commission recommended that Congress require biotechs to “disclose single points of supply chain vulnerability located in foreign countries of concern” and urged the International Trade Commission to investigate “Chinese dumping or oversupply of biotechnology products and services.”“The United States is locked in a competition with China that will define the coming century,” NSCEB Chair Senator Todd Young said in a release to accompany the report“Biotechnology can ensure our warfighters continue to be the strongest fighting force on tomorrow\'s battlefields, and reshore supply chains while revitalizing our manufacturing sector, creating jobs here at home,” Young added.The commission\'s recommendations come against a backdrop of severe and wide-ranging cuts to funding and staff at U.S. health agencies. At a session of the Biopharma Congress this week, Janet Woodcock, M.D., former acting FDA commissioner and former principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, said leadership at the agency has “been decapitated, and I think that was somewhat deliberate.”

A congressional commission is advocating for a $15 billion federal investment in America’s biotechnology sector, warning that the US could soon be eclipsed by China in a key frontier of innovation. In a report released Tuesday, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology urged a more proactive, coordinated role in developing biotechnologies that could reshape everything from medicine to manufacturing to national defense. The panel, made up of members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as experts from industry, academia and government, warned that without focus and major investment, China could first reach a “ChatGPT moment” — a reference to a technological breakthrough so significant that it permanently shifts global power dynamics. “We could see ourselves outflanked, out-competed,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), the commission’s chair, told reporters. “It will not only undermine our material prosperity if that happens, but it will jeopardize our national security.” But the recommendations come amid the Trump administration’s deep funding cuts to the NIH , FDA and other agencies. Critics say the moves have weakened the very institutions needed to keep a US edge in science . Young acknowledged the fiscal challenge, but said reprioritizing, not just simply increasing spending, would be critical. “I’m in no way diminishing the fiscal challenges associated with persuading colleagues to add new priorities to the list,” he said. “My argument would be: eliminate some priorities. Set priorities right. Don’t fund everything.” Young said he plans to present the recommendations directly to President Donald Trump, whom he described as “enthusiastic” about the commission’s efforts. He added that he has already discussed the report with several key figures in the president’s orbit, including advisor Elon Musk, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jacob Helberg, Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of economic growth, energy and the environment. “There seems to be a lot of interest in it among what are loosely being called the ‘tech bros’ within the administration,” Young said. He later added, “This is how you create abundance in manufacturing opportunities across what has been disparagingly called for years flyover country.” Still, some industry observers are skeptical that the recommendations will be taken up, especially given the Trump administration’s track record. “It’s hard to believe that recommendations around public investment have traction at a time when the current administration is so focused on cutting healthcare investments at institutions like NIH and FDA,” said Nick Shipley, founder of the biopharma advisory firm Cronus Consulting, in response to a reporter’s description of the report before its wider release. BIO CEO John Crowley said in an interview last week that the trade group provided ideas for the report. The US has long been a global leader in biotechnology, dating back to the industry’s early days in the 1970s. As recently as last year, the commission believed the US still held a competitive advantage over China. But upon closer inspection, the US is “falling behind in key areas of emerging biotechnology,” the report states. China’s rise is in part due to strategic state investment. Under President Xi Jinping’s “Made in China 2025” initiative, the government poured in money and streamlined drug approvals. The results: China has suddenly become a major source of new drug development , as evidenced by a surge in licensing deals with US pharmaceuticals. “There will be a ChatGPT moment for biotechnology,” the commission’s report states. “If China gets there first, no matter how fast we run, we will never catch up.” To avoid that scenario, the report outlines a long list of recommendations to overhaul the US approach. Among the recommendations, it proposes streamlined regulations, the creation of an “independence investment fund” aimed at scaling up technology startups, and a crackdown on certain Chinese biotech firms deemed security threats. While the report stops short of naming specific Chinese companies, the policy echoes the intent of the Biosecure Act. The legislation sought to ban US reliance on suppliers like WuXi AppTec, but ultimately didn’t win approval in Congress last year . The panel’s proposed road map focuses on six national priorities:

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