BIO FLIPS ON CHINESE BIOTECH FIRM: “The Biotechnology Innovation Organization is cutting ties with Chinese member company WuXi AppTec and backing legislation to ban it and similar companies from inking U.S. federal contracts,” our Megan Wilson reports. — “The move is an about-face from the trade group’s earlier position and comes after Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who leads the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, called WuXi AppTec and other Chinese biotechnology companies a national security threat for their alleged ties to the Chinese government.” — “Gallagher, sponsor of the House legislation, had recently asked the Justice Department whether BIO should be required to register as a foreign agent for its advocacy opposing his bill because of WuXi AppTec’s membership in the group. He claimed the company has ties to the Chinese government, which the company denies.” — “John Crowley, who took the helm at BIO this month, said in a letter to Gallagher on Wednesday that the organization ‘is taking steps now to separate from WuXi AppTec regarding membership in the organization’ and would support the BIOSECURE Act.” — “It’s a reversal from a letter sent to lawmakers by former BIO CEO Rachel King in February, which said the legislation ‘portends significant unintended consequences that would immediately and negatively impact the biotechnology sector in the U.S.’” TRUMP’S TIKTOK ‘MIRROR IMAGE’: “After he spent much of the last year of his presidency trying to ban TikTok, former President Donald Trump’s abrupt effort to defend the Chinese-owned app late last week caught many in Washington by surprise. But for people who’ve been watching Trump’s TikTok policies closely, it was part of a pattern,” our Brendan Bordelon notes, of “changing course when an interested billionaire donor was in the mix.” — “‘It’s a mirror image of 2020,’ said Nu Wexler, a former spokesperson for several top tech firms in the nation’s capital and an alumnus of Democratic congressional offices. ‘He tried to ban TikTok and then figured out that there was an out — that he could take care of a donor — and flipped on it.’” — “In 2020, the Trump-linked billionaire with a stake in TikTok’s fate was Larry Ellison, co-founder of software company Oracle and the host of a lavish fundraiser for Trump’s reelection effort in February 2020. Oracle CEO Safra Catz also donated $125,000 to the Trump Victory committee later that year. Under tremendous pressure from the Trump administration — and after Trump’s efforts to ban the app or force a sale fizzled out — TikTok ultimately tapped Oracle to serve as its primary cloud provider in the United States.” — “Today that billionaire is Jeffrey Yass, a major donor to the conservative Club for Growth as the group cozies up to Trump ahead of his 2024 presidential campaign. Yass holds a 15 percent stake in TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, and Club for Growth has tapped former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to push back on Washington’s plan to restrict the app.” TUSK LAUNCHES LATINO OUTREACH VERTICAL: New York consulting firm Tusk Strategies has launched a new practice focused on engaging the Latino community, as the growing demographic becomes increasingly influential in the social, economic and political spheres. The new offering will be led by several alumni of the Biden administration, including former Commerce official Bernadette Carrillo, White House aide and head of Tusk’s D.C. office Cristóbal Alex and former Kamala Harris aide Maria Restrepo. — María Navarro Gallegos, a former Spanish language-focused media strategist at the crisis comms firm Stu Loeser & Co., and Anastasia Bergeron will also work on the practice, which will help clients create “culturally competent marketing and communications,” make inroads with Latino elected officials, access opportunities for federal procurement and contracting, and engage and boost business development in places like Puerto Rico and Mexico. — Latinos in the U.S. have trillions of dollars worth of purchasing power, Carrillo, who worked in PepsiCo’s D.C. office before joining the Biden team, said in an interview. “The buying power of the Latino community and how it can be integrated within a corporate strategy is critical moving forward,” she said. As in corporate America, she argued, there are gaps in how the increasingly powerful bloc is represented within and engaged by the federal government. — The practice will look to help clients tap into that influence. “This is a critical, critical community,” Carrillo said. “One that, if you do three things — you align, activate and mobilize — will be key consumers of your product as well as key advocates for an issue or vote that you may be trying to attain.”
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