Despite his announced retirement from Congress effective April 19 this year, Mike Gallagher continues to influence discourse surrounding China’s biotech sector. This week, Gallagher, along with Republican Raja Krishnamoorthi, sent a letter to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, inquiring about updates on a Pentagon security review of several Chinese biotechnology companies.
The letter introduces several new names to the list of Chinese biotech firms under scrutiny, in addition to previously mentioned BGI Americas Corp. and MGI Group. Two new BGI subsidiaries are now included: Innomics, a Massachusetts-based company described as a subsidiary of BGI Americas Corp., and STOmics. Other new additions to the list are Origincell, Vazyme Biotech, and Axbio, which are considered to have potential military connections. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are advocating for their inclusion on a civil-military fusion list.
Origincell Technology Group Co., Ltd, a Shanghai-based firm offering biobank services, is noted for operating a cell bank network and bio storage technologies with alleged ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Vazyme Biotech’s parent company, Nanjing Vazyme Biotech Co. (SHA: 688105), is a manufacturer of biomedical reagents, including next-generation sequencing (NGS) reagents. The letter describes the firm as “a global leader in the design and manufacturing of bioactive compounds” and notes significant funding from PLA-related funds.
Axbio, which develops next-generation genetic sequencing equipment and smart biochips, is accused in the letter of being directly funded by China’s State Development and Investment Corporation. It is also alleged to have ties to Russian entities, including the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Research Centre of Medical Genetics, as well as links to BGI.
Significantly, the Contract Research Organization WuXi AppTec was not mentioned in the latest letter, which may be seen as a cautiously positive signal for the company.- Flcube.com
