Will the epicenter of global medical innovation be in New Jersey or Shanghai?
That is a critical question before U.S. policymakers right now, and the stakes arguably
couldn’t be higher. How the country fends off China’s rising biopharma sector affects
everything from our health and national security to local, state and national economies.
Today, the U.S. leads the world in biopharmaceutical innovation. No industry has
answered the call to “build here” more enthusiastically than the life sciences.
Companies are developing cutting-edge medicines while investing hundreds of billions
of dollars to build, expand and modernize factories and research facilities.
According to We Work For Health, a life sciences advocacy group tracking U.S.
investment through public announcements and news reports, the industry has
committed more than $486 billion in new infrastructure investment in 2025 alone —
more than 15 times the total announced last year. Remarkably, five companies alone
each have committed at least $50 billion to build or expand facilities and manufacturing
capabilities.
New Jersey has been a major beneficiary of this investment surge, with companies
such as Roche, Novartis, Merck, Hikma, Genmab, Ferring and Ascendis announcing
expansions or celebrating ribbon cuttings for newly expanded facilities in the state since
April.
These investments will only strengthen New Jersey’s stature as home to nearly 5,600
life sciences companies supporting more than 356,000 well-paying jobs. Combined with
the state’s unprecedented leadership in medical innovation — companies with a New Jersey footprint are responsible for 43% of all novel FDA drug approvals over the past
two years — the Garden State’s position as a global life sciences powerhouse has
never been more clear.
But the future is not promised.
For the U.S. to keep this economic engine humming and ensure access to lifesaving
treatments and cures for patients, forward-thinking public policy is essential.
That’s because China is determined to overtake America as the world’s premier medical
innovator. Through major policy changes and state investment, Beijing has spent the
past decade working toward that goal. And the tide has begun to shift. Last year, China
launched more clinical trials than the U.S. for the first time ever.
The trend signals China’s deepening biomedical capacity and potential for rapid industry
growth that could redefine how Americans access medication.
If the U.S. cedes leadership, the consequences would be profound.
Economically, millions of American jobs could be at risk. Strategically, we would
become dependent on foreign production for critical medicines. And, from a public
health standpoint, American patients would lose the assurance of access to treatments
approved under the Food and Drug Administration’s gold-standard review process.
America’s biopharmaceutical companies are making historic investments to ensure that
medical innovation remains a homegrown enterprise.
Now, policymakers must match that commitment.
We need pricing systems that reward innovation and encourage those making capital
investments to see biopharmaceutical research and development as a risk worth taking.
We need to protect the Bayh-Dole Act, which created the pathway for federally
supported research to be transformed into new inventions.
This means preserving the intellectual property and pricing frameworks that reward risk-
taking, incentivizing companies to invest in next-generation cures. It also means maintaining federal funding for the foundational research that is a critical steppingstone
in the development of lifesaving products.
Policies that weaken these pillars — from government-imposed price controls to limits
on patent protections — would not just slow progress; they would invite our competitors
to surpass us.
As a country, we cannot rest on our laurels.
America needs a pro-innovation policy environment that supports researchers,
scientists and investors. Washington has started to take notice. Recently, the Senate
HELP Committee explored this very issue during a hearing on the future of U.S. biotech,
and the critical stakes were communicated to Congress in an annual report from the
U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
If Beijing restricts U.S. access to active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting
materials, the commission warned, “the consequences could be catastrophic for U.S.
health security, the broader economy, and potentially military readiness.”
Lawmakers should look no further than New Jersey to see the economic and societal
benefits of a strong life sciences sector — one that fuels innovation, supports jobs and
safeguards America’s leadership in global health.
The race for the future of medicine isn’t slowing down.
Neither should we.
Debbie Hart is the CEO of BioNJ and a regular contributor to BINJE.com; Dan Leonard
is Executive Director of We Work For Health.
