Broader CFIUS jurisdiction may have implications for biotech

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to use the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to protect U.S. innovation, citing a House of Representatives bill that seeks to expand the agency's jurisdiction to cover "foundational and emerging technologies." The broad language in the legislation could open up the range of biotech inventions that could be scrutinized by CFIUS.

On Tuesday, the House passed 400-2 the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA), which would update CFIUS’s definition of “critical technologies” to include emerging and foundational technologies. CFIUS is an interagency committee authorized to review foreign investments for national security concerns. FIRRMA’s predecessor, the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007, limits CFIUS's jurisdiction to “critical technologies.”...