U.S. Proposes Expanding China Investment Controls to Biotech

The U.S. Treasury Department has proposed expanding U.S. controls on outbound investment in China to biotechnology, potentially subjecting some joint drug-development ventures, offshore spinoffs and equity investments to national-security review.

The proposed rule, issued Oct. 22 under the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act, or COINS Act, would add biotechnology to an outbound-investment screening program established for sensitive Chinese sectors. The move could reshape deal structures used by Chinese drugmakers to commercialize experimental medicines abroad.