The US Treasury Department has proposed expanding US controls on outbound investment in China to biotechnology, reports Caixin. The move would potentially subject some joint drug-development ventures, offshore spinoffs and equity investments to national-security review.
The proposed rule, issued October 22 under the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act, or COINS Act, would add biotechnology to an outbound-investment screening program established for sensitive Chinese sectors. The move could reshape deal structures used by Chinese drugmakers to commercialize experimental medicines abroad.
The measure would cover a broad range of drugs and therapies, including small-molecule medicines, polymers, vaccines, blood products, allergenics, cell and gene therapies, monoclonal antibodies, other recombinant therapeutic proteins and their delivery systems.