A Congressional advisory commission has warned that the rising level of Chinese investment in US biotechnology companies is starting to pose a threat to US security. The advisory commission cited a report by Gryphon Scientific that Chinese governmental access to the US health records and patient data can expose American citizens to blackmail and other forms of coercion.
Bruce Einhorn elaborates on the specific threat that Chinese investment in US biotech firms may pose in this article in Bloomberg:
Biotech companies in China have access to technology and data through investments in U.S. companies, partnerships with American universities and recruitment of U.S.-trained researchers, the report for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said.
“Chinese biotechnology companies are acquiring technologies crucial to advancement in the field as well as amassing large collections of clinical and genetic data on U.S. residents,” said the report, published February 14.
New U.S. regulations have put biotech on the same level in terms of importance to national security as aerospace and microchips. Chinese investors have been a mainstay of recent fundraising by private biotechnology firms. At least one Chinese investor participated in 41 U.S. biotech financing deals valued at a total of $2.6 billion last year, according to Pitchbook.
“Theoretically, access to private information on security-sensitive U.S. persons creates a risk of blackmail and may reveal health conditions exploitable in a targeted attack,” the commission report said.
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While noting China is “a leading originator of cyberattacks on the U.S.” that target personal healthcare-related data, the commission’s report said there was no evidence so far that the Chinese government has used such data in a “strategic and hostile way.”
