What happened in this Health story?

Rep. Jake Auchincloss is pushing Congress to accelerate U.S. biotech by adopting Australia's clinical trial model and targeting insurers and OMB interference, rather than mirroring the bipartisan push to wall off the industry from China.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Rep. Jake Auchincloss** plans to introduce a bill modeled on Australia's clinical trial reforms, which allow early-phase trials to bypass pre-approval evaluation by the national regulator, arguing U.S. trials cannot be as cheap as China's but should be as fast.

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**Auchincloss** rejected the bipartisan push to extend China-style protectionist policies to biotech, telling the STAT Summit that "Washington needs to fix itself and worry less about what China is doing."

Auchincloss: Boost U.S. Biotech, Don't Target China — SkimNews

By STAT News · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-10-15

Get the Health newsletter

Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss plans to introduce a bill modeled on Australia's clinical trial reforms, which allow early-phase trials to bypass pre-approval evaluation by the national regulator, arguing U.S. trials cannot be as cheap as China's but should be as fast.
Auchincloss rejected the bipartisan push to extend China-style protectionist policies to biotech, telling the STAT Summit that "Washington needs to fix itself and worry less about what China is doing."
Auchincloss urged Massachusetts lawmakers to treat insurance companies — not drugmakers — as the industry's "villain," while also pursuing PBM reform, 340B program changes, and small business grants.
Auchincloss attacked OMB Director Russ Vought for treating science as a "blue state subsidy," citing Vought's proposals to override peer reviewers and terminate grants at will.
Auchincloss criticized FDA Commissioner Marty Makary's National Priority Voucher program as politicized, pointing to Makary's award of vouchers to psychedelics after podcaster Joe Rogan texted President Trump about ibogaine research.

Why it matters: Auchincloss's proposed bill would import Australia's regulator-bypass for early-phase trials into the U.S. system, a concrete procedural change that could compress clinical development timelines for Massachusetts biotech firms, the state's economy depends on. His framing puts him at odds with the bipartisan instinct to treat China as the primary biotech threat.