{"slug": "us-treasury-assesses-options-to-screen-investments-in-china-biotech", "title": "US Treasury assesses options to screen investments in China biotech", "summary": "The US Treasury is assessing whether to expand outbound investment screening to include biotechnology deals with Chinese firms, following bipartisan pressure from lawmakers. Representatives John Moolenaar and Debbie Dingell introduced the Biotech Investment National Security Act to explicitly add biotech to the COINS Act framework, targeting pharmaceutical intellectual property and drug development partnerships. No formal assessment has begun, but final COINS regulations are expected by March 2027.", "body_md": "# US Treasury assesses options to screen investments in China biotech\n\nBipartisan congressional pressure mounts to expand outbound investment restrictions to cover pharmaceutical deals with Chinese firms\n\nThe US government is weighing whether to treat biotech deals with Chinese companies the same way it treats semiconductor and AI investments: as potential national security risks worth screening before the money flows out.\n\nBipartisan lawmakers have been pushing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to expand the scope of the COINS Act, a law enacted in late 2025, to explicitly include biotechnology transactions involving Chinese firms. The pressure comes after a string of major licensing and partnership agreements between US pharmaceutical giants and Chinese biotech companies, some potentially exceeding $10B in value.\n\n## The legislative push taking shape\n\nOn June 2, 2026, Representatives John Moolenaar and Debbie Dingell introduced the Biotech Investment National Security Act, or BINSA. The bill aims to amend the COINS Act so that biotechnology is explicitly listed as a sector subject to outbound investment screening.\n\nThis wasn’t a cold start. In May 2026, Moolenaar had already urged Bessent directly to fold biotech into the COINS framework, zeroing in on areas like intellectual property licensing and drug discovery partnerships.\n\nThe COINS Act itself, passed as part of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act, gives the Treasury the authority to designate additional sectors for investment screening beyond its original scope. Final regulations for the COINS Act aren’t expected until March 13, 2027.\n\n## Why biotech, why now\n\nRecent deals involving Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb with Chinese biotech firms have put a spotlight on the scale of capital and technology flowing toward China’s pharmaceutical sector. When individual transactions potentially clear the $10B mark, policymakers start asking uncomfortable questions about what exactly gets transferred along with the money.\n\nThe BIOSECURE Act already restricts certain Chinese biotech companies from participating in federal contracts. That law targets the services side, essentially preventing US government agencies from doing business with specific Chinese biotech service providers. BINSA would tackle the other end of the equation: stopping US capital from flowing outward into Chinese biotech ventures.\n\nThe focus is deliberately narrow, at least on paper. Agricultural biotechnology and basic research appear to fall outside the scope of what lawmakers are targeting. The crosshairs are trained on pharmaceutical intellectual property and drug development.\n\n## What this means for investors\n\nAs of mid-June 2026, the Treasury has not formally initiated any assessment process for including biotechnology in its outbound investment screening regime. No new rules are in effect. No deals have been blocked under this framework.\n\nThe March 2027 deadline for final COINS Act regulations is the date circled on the calendar. If the Treasury signals before then that it intends to include biotech, expect market reactions well ahead of any formal rule. If it stays quiet, BINSA’s legislative journey through Congress becomes the next catalyst to monitor.\n\n**Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our\n\n[Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-treasury-assesses-options-to-screen-investments-in-china-biotech", "canonical_source": "https://cryptobriefing.com/us-treasury-china-biotech-investment-screening/", "published_at": "2026-06-18 17:00:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-18 17:02:48.051333+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["US Treasury", "Scott Bessent", "John Moolenaar", "Debbie Dingell", "COINS Act", "Biotech Investment National Security Act", "Pfizer", "Bristol Myers Squibb"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-treasury-assesses-options-to-screen-investments-in-china-biotech", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-treasury-assesses-options-to-screen-investments-in-china-biotech.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-treasury-assesses-options-to-screen-investments-in-china-biotech.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-treasury-assesses-options-to-screen-investments-in-china-biotech.jsonld"}}