H.R. 10859: Biotech Defense Act

This bill would direct the Department of Defense to treat foreign biotechnology capabilities as a national security issue, with a particular focus on the People’s Republic of China.

What it would require the Pentagon to do

• Develop a strategy to make sure biotechnology threats from foreign adversaries are included in the National Defense Strategy and Defense Planning Guidance.
• Assess how foreign adversaries may use biotechnology for military purposes, including gene editing, synthetic biology, biological agents, and disruption of supply chains important to the U.S. military.
• Identify ways to counter those threats, such as increasing U.S. biotechnology research and development, improving supply chain resilience, and strengthening defensive biotech capabilities.
• Work with allies and international partners on biotechnology-related security risks.
• Consult with several federal departments and outside partners, including State, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, intelligence agencies, defense and biotech industry partners, research organizations, and allies.

Reports and assessments the bill would require

• The Secretary of Defense would have to submit the strategy to Congress in unclassified form, though it could include a classified annex.
• Within 180 days, the Director of National Intelligence would have to provide Congress with a detailed assessment of China’s use of biotechnology for military modernization.
• That assessment would cover China’s biotech research programs, military-civil fusion strategy, possible bioweapons or other asymmetric threats, Chinese entities involved in dual-use biotechnology, China’s control of biotech supply chains, and possible countermeasures such as export controls and intelligence collection.

Interagency monitoring of biotech investment and partnerships

• Within 180 days, the Secretary of Defense would have to set up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for biotech risk assessment, working with other agencies.
• A new Biotechnology Risk Contact Group would be created to track foreign investments, partnerships, and joint ventures in the U.S. biotechnology sector, especially those involving Chinese entities.
• This group would look for national security risks such as transfer of sensitive technology, intellectual property, or genomic data.
• It would coordinate with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) on biotech-related deals.
• It would also maintain a database of foreign entities involved in U.S. biotechnology, including links to foreign governments or military organizations.
• The group would report annually to Congress, and the Defense Department would brief Congress regularly on its work.

Relevant Companies

• MRNA — Moderna could be indirectly affected if the bill leads to tighter scrutiny of biotech partnerships, foreign investment, or supply-chain relationships involving sensitive biotechnology.
• BNTX — BioNTech could be indirectly affected through increased U.S. review of biotechnology collaboration, data transfer, or cross-border investment issues.
• AMGN — Amgen could be indirectly affected by broader federal attention to biotech supply chains, foreign partnerships, and national-security reviews in the sector.
• ILMN — Illumina could be indirectly affected because genomics tools and data are explicitly within the bill’s concern about sensitive biotechnology and genomic information.
• CRSP — CRISPR Therapeutics could be indirectly affected since gene-editing technologies are specifically mentioned as an area of concern.
• EDIT — Editas Medicine could be indirectly affected by increased government scrutiny of gene-editing research and foreign ties in dual-use biotechnology.
• REGN — Regeneron could be indirectly affected if the bill leads to broader review of biotech collaborations, research ties, or supply-chain dependencies.