As the U.S. government faces up to China's expanding role in the global biopharma ecosystem, one senator has been looking at the bigger picture.
Since 2024, Senator Todd Young (R-IN) has been chairman of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB), which is charged with reviewing how the sector could impact national security. A major focus of the commission of late has been the rise of China’s biotech industry, which has grown from a manufacturing and me-too powerhouse to a global leader in innovative medicine development.
Norstella forecasting data provided by Evaluate and shared with Fierce illustrates how fast the landscape is changing—Chinese assets are positioned to account for more than two-thirds of total biopharma licensing deal value this year, up from about half in 2025 and less than 5% just five years ago.
There has been plenty of talk in D.C. about proposed bills and policies aimed at limiting investment in China's biotech industry and onshoring drug manufacturing, but Young has his eyes on what he considers a greater long-term threat.
“China is no longer simply manufacturing generic medicine; it's become a leading source of novel biopharmaceutical innovation, and therefore our debate in Washington is evolving from concerns about manufacturing dependence and economic resiliency to broader concerns regarding the loss of our innovation,” Young told Fierce in an interview.
“The commission recognizes that it's not realistic to simply shut the door on U.S.-China biopharmaceutical partnerships overnight, but our priority should be reducing strategic dependence over time,” he said.
“We can do so by strengthening the U.S. innovation ecosystem, so that the next generation of breakthrough discoveries, investments and ultimately commercialization will happen here at home.”
Young was born in Pennsylvania but raised in Eli Lilly's hometown of Indianapolis. He graduated from the Naval Academy and accepted a commission with the U.S. Marine Corps, bringing experience as a rifle platoon commander and intelligence officer to the national security-focused commission. He served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2016.
More recently, Young has been connecting the dots between biotech innovation and China’s ability to innovate in other areas. He branded the U.S.’ increased reliance on Chinese medical innovation “alarming,” with wider national security implications.
“If China comes to lead in innovation as it relates to biopharmaceuticals, they can parlay that expertise into innovation in agriculture, energy and defense,” he argued. “It's the very same biotech. It's the very same science. It's just directed towards solving different problems.”
Young said that it's a strategic decision for China to throw its resources into biotech because of how lucrative this industry can be. “People will pay a lot in order to extend their lives or improve their lives,” he said.
The last few years have shown the fruits of China’s efforts to become a biotech leader. Upfront payments from Western companies for deals with Chinese biotechs have risen from an average of about $52 million in 2022 to $172 million in early 2026, according to Evaluate.
The cash from these deals has the potential to expand China's biotech prowess beyond medicine and into other areas of the economy and the military, Young suggested.
Last year, the NSCEB released a report containing 49 policy recommendations to guide the future of the U.S. biotech industry, focused on prioritizing biotech at the national level, mobilizing the private sector, maximizing the military benefits of biotech, equipping allies and growing the workforce.
Young said the top priority is to create a role for a federal biotech leader based in the White House “who has the president's ear.”
The leader would be “empowered to look across different federal agencies and develop a whole-of-government plan related to biotechnology and have the convening power to work with agency heads as it relates to our strategic biotechnology priorities, and then to develop a strategic plan around biotechnology and update that plan from time to time,” Young explained.
While the NSCEB’s plan does involve more leadership and support at the federal level, Young emphasized that the U.S. path to regaining the biotech innovation initiative is more focused on the private sector and empowering entrepreneurs, even as he recognized the effectiveness of China’s biotech growth strategy.
“We don't want to adopt the Chinese system, which is a system of brute force economics,” the senator said. “They have a plan, but their plan is more focused on throwing people and resources at the problem.”
Instead, Young believes a few major changes are needed in the U.S. The first is empowering domestic innovators and manufacturers to help the U.S. biotech sector grow faster. There is also a need for biotech innovation to be pointed toward biotech-related defense innovation, such as more shelf-stable blood for soldiers or biosensors to detect threats. Growing the workforce through education and recruitment is also important, Young said.
“The other side of it is how can we slow down our adversaries, in particular the Chinese,” Young added.
There are legislative efforts already in progress in that direction, with both the U.S. House and Senate proposing bills to add scrutiny to investment in Chinese drug developers, which has rankled some biotech investors. For Young, the consequences of limiting the free market are justified by the potential impact on American security.
“We need to make sure that we are putting controls on the use of Chinese biotech by our own market,” the senator explained. “It only leads to more resources for the Chinese and more vulnerabilities to our broader economy when those links are disrupted or when the Chinese threaten to disrupt our supply chains.”