Scientific breakthroughs will enable a future of personalized drug discovery, where precision medicine makes it possible to receive the right dose of the right medicine at the right time. America’s ability to lead this global frontier of medicine is contingent upon our willingness to recognize China as a competitor and respond accordingly. But often overlooked in this essential conversation is the importance of investing more in U.S. biotech firms and innovation ecosystems — including those outside of the well-recognized hubs.
Two critical ingredients need to be protected — and developed — to deliver on the promise of accessible precision medicine: the genomic data and intellectual property that propel drug discovery and development.
Genomic data, often from patients’ clinical records, is critical to understanding how genomes relate to diseases. Ethically securing this data should respect a patient’s consent and privacy, and prioritize their relationships with their designated providers. Genetic data could then be combined with the intellectual property of America’s early-stage start-ups, universities, research institutes, and established enterprises to harness domestic ingenuity in pioneering novel approaches to addressing diseases.
China poses a threat to both securing genomic data and protecting intellectual property. Extensive reports have alleged that Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) has harvested genomic data from America and elsewhere. And Congress was recently made aware that WuXi App Tec, a substantial clinical research organization and a contract development and manufacturing organization, has been leaking American intellectual property to Beijing.
This misappropriation of genomic data and fecklessness with IP underscores the need for stringent protections from entities that pose such risks. This aggressive behavior from companies backed by the People’s Republic of China should come as no surprise — its ambition to dominate the global bioeconomy is well-documented.
This threat is potentially existential. In a doomsday scenario, China could use American and global genomic data to create targeted bioweapons, with catastrophic implications for global security and stability. The Chinese government is known to have invested heavily in biotech to enhance its soft power and biotech leadership, with state-affiliated companies collecting and misusing genetic data for purposes that would threaten U.S. security and economic interests.
Bipartisan momentum for the Senate Bill 3558, (“A bill to prohibit contracting with certain biotechnology providers, and for other purposes”), which revises the Biosecure Act and would limit access to the American market for China-controlled biotech companies, highlights the emerging consensus that decoupling American biotech from Chinese influence is critical to ensuring our national and economic security.
As the CEO of Southern Research, a nonprofit translational research institute based in Birmingham, Alabama, that is at the cutting edge of drug discovery and development and genomic research, I fully support decoupling to protect U.S. national security and put American biotech on firm, self-sustained footing. But this should also be paired with robust investment in America’s domestic supply chain to decrease industry dependence on China. This involves bolstering capabilities to improve turnaround times and create scale that lowers marginal costs for industry to use American suppliers.
Established biotech hubs like Boston and Silicon Valley have already redoubled their commitments to American national security. But there’s a lot also going on between the two coasts, including in the Deep South, where regional biotech ecosystems are emerging that will catalyze local economic development, improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations, and leverage the South’s diverse population to bolster national security.
In Birmingham, Alabama, government and industry leaders have rallied behind a shared vision of establishing Birmingham as the central hub of a regional innovation ecosystem that will onshore genomic health data and help secure the national bioeconomy.
Across the state line in Georgia, the Atlanta area has attracted substantial federal and state funding to support hundreds of companies and thousands of new jobs in biotech in the coming years. Through geographically clustered projects like Science Square next to Georgia Tech in downtown Atlanta and a massive new life science development outside the city limits, Georgia is incubating projects critical for biotech innovation. In Louisiana, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center has been instrumental in developing the $70 million BioDistrict New Orleans, which aims to position the city as a global center of excellence in research and health care specialties.
These burgeoning biotech hubs across the South will form the backbone of Southern regional economic dynamism in the decades to come — dynamism that promises to secure the domestic supply chain of biotech innovation, cement American biotech dominance, and contribute to U.S. national security. Investing in these homegrown hubs, which has been made possible by groundbreaking CHIPs and Science Act funding, is critical to achieving these goals.
This isn’t the first time that America has invested strategically in domestic supply chains to reduce reliance on foreign adversaries and maintain industrial leadership. During the Cold War, America strategically reduced its reliance on Soviet resources by investing in domestic production and supply chains, particularly in the defense and technology sectors. This investment enabled America to lead in the development and innovation of critical defense technologies.
While America’s strategic competitors have the ability to leverage authoritarian systems to collect huge volumes of patient data, the United States has a uniquely diverse population, particularly in the Deep South, that positions it to be a global leader in biotechnology and increase its national security. To secure this advantage, the country must unlock the full potential of demography and democracy to accelerate innovation.
Congress should pass Senate Bill 3558 because it is a critical step toward achieving these goals. But it cannot and should not stop there. It must also invest in shoring up our domestic capabilities by building upon the world-class companies and research institutes in the U.S.
Josh Carpenter, D.Phil., is the CEO of Southern Research.