Lawmakers Renew Security Concerns Over GenScript Biotechnology’s Alleged CCP Ties

GenScript provides research instruments and services to companies and U.S. government entities.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (L) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R) speak at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington on Sept. 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Lawmakers have again raised concerns about GenScript Biotechnology’s work with U.S. companies in a July 8 letter to the directors of the FBI and national intelligence, citing GenScript’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), respectively the ranking member and chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the CCP, also requested an update on intelligence and law enforcement information regarding GenScript and its affiliates: Bestzyme, Legend Biotech, and ProBio.

GenScript is a global biotechnology company founded in New Jersey in 2002, with offices in Nanjing, China, according to its official website. It provides life science research application instruments and services, including custom gene synthesis, to companies and U.S. government entities.

The company employs over 5,500 employees and has more than 200,000 customers across over 100 countries and regions, the website states.

Krishnamoorthi and Moolenaar previously requested a similar briefing on the company and its three main business segments in a May 2024 letter addressed to then-FBI Director Christopher Wray and then-Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

At the time, the lawmakers said they were concerned about GenScript’s role as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), which offers drug development and manufacturing services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. 

GenScript’s role as a CDMO, including services like the production of custom gene synthesis for companies and U.S. Government entities, “raises concerns about potential risks to the intellectual property of U.S. firms and GenScript’s broader role in advancing the PRC’s biotech capabilities,” they wrote at the time.

The letter said public reporting and the company’s public statements had revealed “tight links” between GenScript and the CCP, while its corporate structure highlighted “links to state-owned enterprises and embedded Party committees.”

Of particular concern was evidence suggesting GenScript was “working to establish CCP-controlled chokepoints in critical areas of biotechnology in which the U.S. currently leads,” the letter stated.

The lawmakers reiterated previous concerns about the potential for GenScript to steal intellectual property and bolster the Chinese communist regime’s capabilities in their latest letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and FBI Director Kash Patel, writing that they “stand by these concerns.”

Krishnamoorthi and Moolenaar said they also seek to better understand how GenScript’s efforts appear to directly support the CCP’s “strategic goal” of “achieving self-reliance in critical technologies” and advancing China’s global competitiveness and influence.

“Since our initial letter, GenScript has undertaken significant new investments, including in announced Australian facilities,” the lawmakers wrote. “Given this and other recent developments, we would benefit from renewing our conversation regarding relevant national security concerns.”

The lawmakers added that maintaining America’s leadership in biotechnology and safeguarding against CCP involvement in relevant entities’ U.S. operations is “an issue of utmost importance.”

Krishnamoorthi and Moolenaar concluded their letter by asking for a briefing to be held on the matter with relevant intelligence and law enforcement personnel.

In response to the May 2024 letter from Krishnamoorthi and Moolenaar, a spokesperson for GenScript said the company does “not take direction from any government.”

The Epoch Times contacted a spokesperson for GenScript Biotechnology for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.