House Select Committee Probes U.S. Drugmakers Over China Ties

The House Select Committee on China issued letters to Merck, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb this week, seeking detailed accounts of their data protection protocols and due diligence standards. Lawmakers are specifically scrutinizing the risks associated with conducting medical trials within Chinese military-linked facilities, questioning how these partnerships align with broader U.S. security interests.

This investigation arrives as China’s biotech sector undergoes rapid expansion, frequently outperforming the United States in the volume of early-stage drug trials. The committee contends that the current pace of this growth poses a direct challenge to American industry leadership, forcing a re-evaluation of ethical and security boundaries for multinational corporations operating abroad.