Keytruda Maker Merck Funded Clinical Trials at China’s Military Sites

Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China has sent a letter to Merck Chief Executive Officer Robert Davis asking the pharmaceutical company to provide more information about the company's clinical drug trials in China. Publicly available information on ClinicalTrials.Gov already shows the company has developed drugs in clinical trials at Chinese military hospitals, and in Xinjiang, China, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is conducting a genocide of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities.

Chairman Moolenaar has raised this as a concern dating back to his first year as Select Committee Chairman, when he sent a letter in August 2024 to FDA on this issue.

Merck sponsored:

• At least 31 trials that included hospitals in Xinjiang, China, with several that are still ongoing today, and 
• At least 40 trials that included PRC military medical centers and hospitals.

Some of the drugs being developed in these experiments include treatments for Crohn’s disease and arthritis.

In his letter, Moolenaar writes:

“Merck 's clinical trials held at PRC military hospitals raise significant questions related to how data developed through clinical trials at those hospitals could fuel the CCP’s military biotechnology research, experimentation, and capability development. 

…

While there is no evidence that Merck has engaged in illegal activity or wrongdoing, conducting clinical trials in China, and in Xinjiang and PRC military hospitals more specifically, exposes American companies to ethical and security risks—some of which even the most robust due diligence may not be sufficient to mitigate."

Moolenaar’s letter concludes by asking Merck to provide the Select Committee with the following information: 

• Company policies, regulations, strategies, or other guidance documents that outline Merck's Good Clinical Practice standards for the conduct of clinical trials, especially trials conducted in China, at PRC military hospitals, or in Xinjiang. 
• Data on the number of clinical trials that Merck has conducted in China at PRC military hospitals, or in Xinjiang, since 2015.  
• Information about Merck's due diligence processes to ensure the protection of IP and sensitive data at clinical trial and manufacturing sites in China at PRC military hospitals, or in Xinjiang. 
• Details of all Merck licensing, equity, or joint venture deals with Chinese biotechnology companies since 2020.

Background

China's clinical trial system relies on rapid patient enrollment, which is three to five times faster than in the United States, due in a part to a lack of ethical safeguards regarding informed consent and voluntary participation.

In Xinjiang, widespread forced labor, forced medical testing, organ harvesting, and procedures on Uyghurs and other minority populations raise ethical concerns. Given the chilling violations of basic human rights in Xinjiang, it is reasonable to question whether clinical trial subjects there are participating voluntarily. Operating in this region demands heightened due diligence by Merck to ensure it is not unwittingly profiting off a system that is failing to protect the rights of participants.

In order to counter China and boost America’s biotech companies, the Trump Administration recently announced the Food and Drug Administration is developing a pilot program for Phase 1 clinical trials that could cut the drug development and approval process in the U.S. by six to 12 months.

In May, Moolenaar advanced language in the 2027 Department of Agriculture funding bill that would prohibit “the FDA from accepting, reviewing, or considering any covered clinical data generated by a clinical investigation site” in China.

Read Moolenaar’s full letter here.