At a time when the federal government is reducing funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health—thereby fraying the partnership between government and academia that made US biomedicine the envy of the world—and as large-scale staff reductions at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are hindering drug development and delaying some approvals, the US’s standing as the globe’s foremost hub for biomedical innovation faces an increasingly serious challenge from China.1,2 Yet, even as US policymakers fixate on geopolitical rivalry with China, remarkably little attention is being paid to the risk that the US might surrender its strategic edge in biomedicine, a loss every bit as damaging as falling behind in semiconductors, rare earth minerals, or military hardware. If the US is serious about staying at the forefront of biomedicine, fresh approaches that reduce discovery hurdles and enable a wider spectrum of researchers, especially those in academic laboratories, are needed to navigate the complexities of drug development.
