The chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has launched an investigation into five major pharmaceutical companies over clinical trials conducted in China, raising concerns about potential national security risks, medical ethics, and intellectual property protection.
According to a June 30 Reuters report, Committee Chairman John Moolenaar opened inquiries into Merck & Co., AbbVie, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb to seek information about whether their clinical research activities in China could expose sensitive technologies or data to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its proxies.
The committee has requested that the companies provide detailed information by July 17 regarding due diligence, data security procedures, and research conducted at Chinese military hospitals and facilities in Xinjiang, a region at the center of international accusations that the CCP has subjected Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities to mass detention, forced assimilation, and other abuses through its so-called “re-education” camp system.
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Clinical trials under scrutiny
The committee’s letters argue that China has transformed itself into one of the world’s fastest and least expensive locations for early-stage human drug trials through regulatory reforms, government subsidies, and industrial policy.
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Moolenaar noted that patient recruitment for clinical trials in China is typically two to five times faster than in the United States, while the country’s volume of clinical studies has now surpassed that of the U.S. Reuters cited research indicating that by 2024, the U.S. share of global early-stage drug development projects had declined from 48 percent to roughly 37 percent, while China’s share rose from 8 percent in 2015 to more than 32 percent.
The committee argues that human clinical trials increasingly involve the collection of sensitive medical, biological, and genetic data, making them a matter of national security rather than solely pharmaceutical research.
Focus on Xinjiang and military hospitals
According to public database records cited by the committee, Merck has sponsored or collaborated on 224 clinical studies in China since 2005, including at least 31 involving medical institutions in Xinjiang and 40 conducted at hospitals or medical centers affiliated with the Chinese military.
AbbVie has sponsored or participated in more than 100 clinical studies in China since 2007, including at least 17 involving Xinjiang sites and 16 conducted at military-affiliated institutions.
In letters sent to executives at both companies, Moolenaar wrote that while there is “no evidence” either company had “engaged in illegal activity or wrongdoing,” conducting clinical trials in China, particularly in Xinjiang and military hospitals, could nevertheless expose U.S. firms to ethical and national security risks.
He also warned that research conducted at Chinese military hospitals could increase the risk that proprietary U.S. biotechnology and intellectual property may be transferred to the Chinese military.
Human rights and national security concerns
The committee’s letters also highlighted longstanding U.S. concerns over human rights in Xinjiang, referring to the region as the center of Beijing’s “genocide” against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities, reflecting language previously adopted by the U.S. Congress.
The letters further cited concerns that some Chinese researchers have failed to obtain adequate informed consent from research participants, raising questions about whether clinical trials conducted in the region fully comply with internationally accepted ethical standards.
Despite the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act not directly regulating clinical research, the committee argued that its underlying risk-management principles provide a useful framework for assessing potential ethical concerns surrounding medical research conducted in Xinjiang.
Moolenaar emphasized that even absent evidence of legal violations, U.S. companies should be able to demonstrate that their partnerships, data management practices, and oversight mechanisms are sufficient to prevent sensitive technologies from being transferred to China.
Scrutiny of China’s biotechnology sector
The investigation comes amid broader concerns in Washington over China’s rapidly expanding biotechnology industry. Last December, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology warned that China had systematically built a vertically integrated biotechnology ecosystem capable of challenging U.S. leadership in the sector.
Reuters also reported that global pharmaceutical companies have signed a record $138 billion worth of licensing agreements aimed at acquiring rights to experimental Chinese-developed drugs in 2025, underscoring China’s growing influence in the global pharmaceutical industry.
Moolenaar has also introduced bipartisan legislation that would expand U.S. national security reviews of biotechnology licensing agreements, joint ventures, and investments involving China. Meanwhile, the BIOSECURE Act, signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump last year, restricts federal agencies from conducting business with certain foreign biotechnology companies.
Company responses
Merck said patient safety and ethical integrity remain its highest priorities and that it complies with all applicable global research standards. AbbVie declined to comment. Pfizer confirmed it had received the committee’s letter but offered no further statement. Eli Lilly said it is reviewing the inquiry, while Bristol Myers Squibb did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The committee emphasized that its inquiry remains in the information-gathering stage and has not concluded that any of the companies violated U.S. law. Instead, lawmakers said they are seeking additional information to assess potential national security, data protection, intellectual property, and medical ethics risks associated with conducting clinical research and biotechnology collaborations in China.
Meanwhile, several bipartisan members of Congress have called on the U.S. government to broaden its investigation and consider additional measures, including potential sanctions or restrictions on federal contracting for companies found to pose national security concerns.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have also called for greater scrutiny of Western companies’ human rights responsibilities in Xinjiang.
