Overview
- The bipartisan Select Committee on China sent letters on Tuesday opening national-security probes of Merck and AbbVie and gave the companies until July 17 to produce due-diligence, data-protection and site-level records.
- The committee cited ClinicalTrials.gov records showing Merck has sponsored or collaborated on 224 studies in China since 2005, including at least 31 in Xinjiang and 40 at hospitals linked to China’s military, and said AbbVie has run more than 100 studies including trials in Xinjiang and at military medical centers.
- Committee letters say there is no evidence so far of illegal company conduct but warn that trials in Xinjiang raise informed-consent and human-rights concerns and that research at military hospitals could expose U.S. biotech data and intellectual property to China’s military.
- Merck issued a statement saying patient safety and ethical integrity guide its research and that it follows global standards while AbbVie declined to comment and China’s embassy called the inquiry not credible.
- The investigation fits broader U.S. moves to tighten biotech controls, including the Biosecure Act and proposed screening for outbound biotech deals, and could lead to limits on using China-generated clinical data or new restrictions on partnerships and investments.