Senator Rick Scott is demanding a top-to-bottom federal investigation into how much influence the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) holds over American clinical trials and the drug approval process.
In a letter sent today to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Scott argued that allowing CCP-linked companies to handle sensitive medical data and trial processes creates a “substantial national security risk.”
The Florida Senator specifically pointed to a China-based company called Bioheng (also known as Imviva). According to Scott, the firm—reportedly backed by CCP-linked sources—received the green light for an Investigational New Drug application and was granted “priority review” status.
Scott raised alarms over the company’s business model, which involves collecting donor cells in China, engineering cancer therapies there, and then administering them to patients in the U.S.
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“In the context of cell and gene therapies, this model raises not only data security concerns, but also patient safety risks,” Scott wrote. He noted that when critical medical processing happens outside of U.S. borders, it becomes nearly impossible for domestic regulators to provide “effective oversight and enforcement.”
The Senator’s push for a review highlights the massive scale of the U.S. bioscience industry, which employed roughly 2.3 million people and generated $3.2 trillion in 2023. Scott argued that state-sponsored intellectual property theft directly threatens this “engine of national prosperity.”
As part of his formal request, Scott is asking federal agencies to:
- Immediately review and potentially pause all pending clinical trials involving entities with ties to the CCP or the People’s Liberation Army.
- Reevaluate “expedited” status for companies like Bioheng/Imviva.
- Implement mandatory national security screenings for any drug applications involving foreign manufacturing or the transfer of patient data abroad.
- Prohibit the transmission of identifiable U.S. patient data to “foreign adversary” nations.
“The United States must remain open to legitimate scientific collaboration, but openness cannot come at the expense of national security or patient protection,” Scott stated in the letter.
This latest move follows Scott’s previous work on the CLEAR LABELS Act, which aims to increase transparency in the pharmaceutical supply chain so patients and pharmacists know exactly where their medications are coming from.
The Senator has requested a detailed written response from the HHS, NIH, and FDA within 60 days.
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