The 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.
Bipartisan 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.
The legislative push taking shape
On 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.
This 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.
