The American Biosecurity Initiative

Medicine Is a National Security Asset

America's lead in discovering new medicines is one of the country's most important strategic advantages. The American Biosecurity Initiative works to protect that lead by making the country stronger, not by walling it off.

See the Threat
// Threat Data //
TRIALSChina ran more clinical trials than the U.S. in 2024, about 7,100 to 6,000. LEADChina overtook the U.S. in annual clinical trial volume earlier this decade. PIPELINEChina's share of early-stage drug programs rose from 8% to 32% between 2015 and 2024, while America's fell from 48% to 37%. SPEEDChinese trial networks run early-phase studies up to 40% cheaper and 50% faster than the U.S. RESEARCH BASEThe NIH issued about 24% fewer new research grants in 2025 than its ten-year average. INGREDIENTSForeign manufacturers make roughly 80% of the active ingredients in U.S. medicines. ANTIBIOTICSChina controls an estimated 80 to 90% of global production of key antibiotic ingredients. IBUPROFENChina supplies roughly 95% of U.S. ibuprofen imports. CHOKEPOINTIndia, the top source of U.S. generics, relies on China for up to 80% of its own active ingredients. SHORTAGESU.S. drug shortages hit an all-time high of 323 in early 2024. TRIALSChina ran more clinical trials than the U.S. in 2024, about 7,100 to 6,000. LEADChina overtook the U.S. in annual clinical trial volume earlier this decade. PIPELINEChina's share of early-stage drug programs rose from 8% to 32% between 2015 and 2024, while America's fell from 48% to 37%. SPEEDChinese trial networks run early-phase studies up to 40% cheaper and 50% faster than the U.S. RESEARCH BASEThe NIH issued about 24% fewer new research grants in 2025 than its ten-year average. INGREDIENTSForeign manufacturers make roughly 80% of the active ingredients in U.S. medicines. ANTIBIOTICSChina controls an estimated 80 to 90% of global production of key antibiotic ingredients. IBUPROFENChina supplies roughly 95% of U.S. ibuprofen imports. CHOKEPOINTIndia, the top source of U.S. generics, relies on China for up to 80% of its own active ingredients. SHORTAGESU.S. drug shortages hit an all-time high of 323 in early 2024.

/// The Threat ///

Two Pressures on American Medicine

American biopharmaceutical strength faces determined competitors abroad and years of policy drift at home, and both bear down on the same domestic base. How the country answers matters as much as the pressure itself, because the responses that feel most like security are often the ones that fail to deliver it.

01

Abroad

The CCP runs a biotech strategy on five-year, ten-year, and decades-long horizons, and it does not separate commercial work from state purpose. Chinese companies operate under laws that can compel them to share what they hold with the government. The PLA serves the CCP. Data, research, and capability built in one place can be repurposed to another, and AI shortens the path from information to advantage. None of this requires assuming bad intent from any one company. It requires being open-eyed about a system built to put those tools to state use. Centralized trial networks already run early-phase studies faster and for far less money than ours, and China now runs more clinical trials than the United States.

02

At Home

American scientific leadership was built on federally funded research, a regulatory system that moved at the speed of science, universities that drew the world's best minds, and private capital that carried discovery to patients. That foundation produced modern cancer treatment, DNA-guided prescribing, faster diagnosis of rare and inherited disease, low-cost sequencing, and the tools that let us read a new virus in weeks. It remains the country's greatest advantage, and it is running below its potential. New research grants trail their long-run pace, the path for the world's best scientists to stay and work here has narrowed, review timelines lag what the science allows, and price pressure thins the margins that fund the next discovery. No single gap is decisive. Together they compound, and each year the domestic base competes from a weaker position than its foundation should allow.

What Works, and What Does Not

The responses that hold build strength. Unleash the domestic base so it can outcompete anyone, hold American standing in the markets where pulling back only makes the country less relevant, and build trusted networks of allies so capacity has somewhere to go. Aim the hard tools at genuine bad actors and use the laws already on the books to full effect. Tariffs, mandates, forced decoupling, and broad investment controls work the other way. They cut off supply before any replacement exists, raise costs at home, surrender ground to competitors, and close off the allied scientific collaboration that keeps American medicine ahead.

/// Mission ///

American biopharmaceuticals are a critical national security asset. The American Biosecurity Initiative works to make national security policy, at home and abroad, treat them as one.

  • 01

    Lead the Global Field

    The way to answer the threat abroad is to compete and lead. America should out-innovate its rivals, compete in global markets, and build the trusted networks of allies and partners that set the standards others follow. Pulling back cedes that ground to competitors with weaker standards and leaves the country less secure.

  • 02

    Unleash Domestic Capacity

    Leadership starts with a strong base at home. Our adversaries are working to take the global lead in biotechnology, and American policy should not make that easier. No policy should weaken the country's ability to research, develop, or manufacture its own medicine.

/// The Policy Framework ///

Securing America’s Biotechnology Leadership sets out how: three pillars and 23 recommendations for Congress and the executive branch, each tied to a national security objective.

Read the Policy Framework
When American science withdraws from the field, someone else writes the standard.

/// Intelligence ///

Latest Briefs

Loading...

View All Intelligence