The U.S. House Select Committee on China is urging the Department of Defense to add seven Chinese biotech firms to its list of Chinese military companies.
In a March 29 letter addressed to the Secretary of Defense, the lawmakers said they identified “problematic” Chinese biotech companies that are helping advance the Chinese military.
“Urgent action is needed to identify the PRC biotechnology entities at the forefront of this work,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
While companies added to the list do not face legal ramifications, the Department of Defense is prohibited from renewing or entering into new contracts with such firms.
The Chinese biotech firms the lawmakers identified include MGI Group, Complete Genomics, Innomics, STOmics, Origincell, Vazyme Biotech, and Axbio.
The lawmakers noted that MGI Group and Complete Genomics are subsidiaries of BGI, which they called a PLA (People’s Liberation Army)-affiliated biotech firm. BGI was added to the Department of Defense’s list of Chinese military companies in 2022. Kharon previously reported that MGI was spun off from BGI as a legally separate company in 2022.
In the letter, the committee accused MGI Group and Complete Genomics of being involved in human rights abuses and the illicit collection of genetic data.
The lawmakers went on to say that although Innomics, a subsidiary of BGI, makes no mention of its ties with BGI or MGI, the company’s “sales materials for genetic sequencing reference product codes for machines produced by BGI subsidiaries, MGI and Complete Genomics.”
Innomics changed its name from BGI Americas Corporation in May 2023, according to corporate records reviewed by Kharon.
Innomics said on Monday that it has no business operations in China nor any ties with the country’s military, Reuters reported.
Earlier this year, the committee introduced a bill, the BIOSECURE Act, aimed at preventing foreign companies, like BGI and its subsidiaries, from gathering genetic information about Americans.
The legislation would restrict medical providers that are funded by the U.S. government from doing business with foreign biotech companies that are considered “a national security threat” to the U.S. It also prohibits executive agencies from contracting with or extending loans or grants to any company with current or future commercial arrangements with a “biotechnology company of concern.”
The Senate also introduced a corresponding bill that is intended to provide the same restrictions.
In a March 29 letter addressed to the Secretary of Defense, the lawmakers said they identified “problematic” Chinese biotech companies that are helping advance the Chinese military.
“Urgent action is needed to identify the PRC biotechnology entities at the forefront of this work,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
While companies added to the list do not face legal ramifications, the Department of Defense is prohibited from renewing or entering into new contracts with such firms.
The Chinese biotech firms the lawmakers identified include MGI Group, Complete Genomics, Innomics, STOmics, Origincell, Vazyme Biotech, and Axbio.
The lawmakers noted that MGI Group and Complete Genomics are subsidiaries of BGI, which they called a PLA (People’s Liberation Army)-affiliated biotech firm. BGI was added to the Department of Defense’s list of Chinese military companies in 2022. Kharon previously reported that MGI was spun off from BGI as a legally separate company in 2022.
In the letter, the committee accused MGI Group and Complete Genomics of being involved in human rights abuses and the illicit collection of genetic data.
The lawmakers went on to say that although Innomics, a subsidiary of BGI, makes no mention of its ties with BGI or MGI, the company’s “sales materials for genetic sequencing reference product codes for machines produced by BGI subsidiaries, MGI and Complete Genomics.”
Innomics changed its name from BGI Americas Corporation in May 2023, according to corporate records reviewed by Kharon.
Innomics said on Monday that it has no business operations in China nor any ties with the country’s military, Reuters reported.
Earlier this year, the committee introduced a bill, the BIOSECURE Act, aimed at preventing foreign companies, like BGI and its subsidiaries, from gathering genetic information about Americans.
The legislation would restrict medical providers that are funded by the U.S. government from doing business with foreign biotech companies that are considered “a national security threat” to the U.S. It also prohibits executive agencies from contracting with or extending loans or grants to any company with current or future commercial arrangements with a “biotechnology company of concern.”
The Senate also introduced a corresponding bill that is intended to provide the same restrictions.
