Opinion: The U.S. needs a bipartisan industrial policy for the life sciences
President Biden’s efforts to revitalize the nation’s technology-based industries, which began with semiconductors and electric vehicles, should encompass the life sciences. Biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, digital therapeutics, diagnostics, genomics, and AI-based clinical decision support compete in a global market where other nations are doubling down in support for their domestic champions. The benefits of investing in the life sciences cannot be measured solely in terms of improved health — they also include high-wage jobs, exports, and tax revenues; pandemic and military preparedness; and spillovers to other sectors.
Support for a more active life sciences industrial policy isn’t a one-party endeavor. It should be a bipartisan effort, especially in the context of rising concern for China’s ambitions. Staunch conservatives in Congress call for more sanctions on unfair subsidies and on the theft of intellectual property. Former President Donald Trump advocates across-the-board tariffs and reductions in U.S. drug prices to the level of prices paid in other nations. And President Biden has been strongly supportive of reshoring the entire technology innovation pipeline, from research through product development, manufacturing, and distribution.
