China’s WuXi AppTec spent at least $360,000 lobbying on the Biosecure Act and other bills before Congress in the second quarter, significantly upping its lobbying work as the company pushed back against the legislation targeting it and other Chinese biopharma contractors.
The second-quarter spending was more than triple what it spent in the first quarter, according to federal records. Additional spending could emerge because there were still several hours left before today’s deadline to report lobbying activity.
WuXi’s lobbying happened around a failed push in June to include the Biosecure Act in an annual spending bill for the Department of Defense. While Biosecure didn’t make the cut, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) this month pledged a vote on the legislation, a sign of its continued momentum among lawmakers amid bipartisan skepticism of China.
The legislation poses an existential threat to the company. It would give US firms until 2032 to stop contracting with “companies of concern” such as WuXi AppTec. The company’s lobbyists include Tyler Ford, US government relations manager for WuXi AppTec, and Dentons Global Advisors, a DC-based management consulting firm.
Sister company WuXi Biologics, which was specifically named in the latest draft of the House legislation, spent at least $40,000 lobbying during the second quarter, the same amount as the first quarter.
During the period, two major biopharma companies, GSK and Vertex, also lobbied on the legislation, according to records.
Vertex — best known for treatments targeting the rare disease cystic fibrosis — spent $980,000 lobbying on issues before the federal government, including the Biosecure Act. In a securities filing from May, the company said it’s vulnerable to the legislation.
“Our foreign third-party manufacturers and suppliers may be subject to U.S. legislation, including the Biosecure Act, sanctions, trade restrictions and other foreign regulatory requirements which could increase costs or reduce the supply of material available to us, or delay the procurement or supply of such material,” the company said in the filing.
GSK — which treats diseases ranging from HIV to respiratory conditions — spent $80,000 lobbying in the latest quarter, including on Biosecure.
The disclosures don’t say what positions the companies have taken and don’t break down how much money went to individual issues. A GSK spokesperson said the company is continuing to watch Biosecure, and that it’s confident the legislation would have no material impact on its operations.
Vertex didn’t have an immediate comment Monday when contacted by Endpoints News.
Biosecure’s potential impacts on supply chains have rippled beyond industry.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the University of Michigan each spent $60,000 lobbying on a host of issues, among them Biosecure. Neither organization responded to requests for comment.
In addition, trade groups actively lobbied on the legislation as well as other measures.
The Pharma & Biopharma Outsourcing Association spent $50,000 lobbying Congress, and the organization’s president said the Biosecure portion was to educate Congress and for “answering questions they might have about technical aspects of Biosecure.”
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) spent $1.79 million on lobbying in the second quarter, while PhRMA spent more than $7.3 million, although it’s unclear how much of those amounts went toward Biosecure lobbying. Both groups have advocated in recent months to limit the impacts of the bill, though also work on a long list of other issues.
A PhRMA spokesperson said the lobbying group is working with Congress to ensure the bill doesn’t cause any shortages or disruptions to R&D.
This article was updated with comment from GSK.