H.R. 9102, National Security Investment Screening Expansion. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a trade-off: gains for some, costs for others.
H.R. 9102 · Mixed
What it does
This bill expands the Defense Production Act to treat biotechnology (pharmaceuticals, biologics, drug discovery, and clinical research) as a national security technology subject to outbound investment screening. It requires the Treasury Secretary, in consultation with Defense, Health and Human Services, and Intelligence officials, to define which biotech transactions with foreign entities—especially China—must be reported or prohibited. The bill aims to prevent U.S. capital and intellectual property from flowing to Chinese biotech firms through licensing, joint ventures, and equity investments.
The analysis names U.S. biotech and pharmaceutical companies (reduced foreign competition for licensing deals) — and 2 more groups — among the beneficiaries.
The trade-off
The bill grants Treasury, Defense, HHS, and Intelligence broad discretion to define 'prohibited' and 'notifiable' biotech transactions with minimal statutory limits, creating regulatory uncertainty that may chill legitimate U.S.-foreign biotech partnerships and licensing deals.
The analysis put a high warning level on this bill. Transparency scores 62%, and the analysis found no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.
Who is behind it
Filed by John Moolenaar. Cosponsored by Debbie Dingell.