Trump administration proposes new curbs on China biotech deals

The Trump administration officially made biotechnology a national security concern late Thursday, proposing to subject certain deals with Chinese life sciences companies to new screening requirements or prohibit them altogether.Why it matters: Western drug giants have invested tens of billions of dollars in Chinese biotechs to bolster their product pipelines, and the rule could impose significant limitations on such transactions. Biotech would join semiconductors, AI and quantum computing among the sensitive technologies subject to added scrutiny under the proposal.Driving the news: The Treasury Department late Thursday proposed updating rules for implementing the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act, which Congress passed last year.The law requires notification of certain U.S. investments in countries of concern like China, Cuba, Iran and North Korea and allows some transactions to be blocked.The concern is investments could be used to create biological weapons or brain-computer interfaces for surveillance, or to make U.S. supply chains overly dependent on a country.Violators would be subject to civil penalties and possible divestment from a prohibited …

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