Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is calling for the United States to reconfigure its clinical research in order to maintain its status as a leader in the industry.
In an opinion piece for Fox News, Kennedy wrote that a recent study found that China “now conducts more early-stage clinical trials than the United States.” In 2025, Chinese companies accounted for “half of global pharmaceutical licensing deal activity. Those trends should concern every American.”
Clinical trials not only support medical progress, he wrote, but “attract investment, scientific talent and the infrastructure that supports future innovation.” If such research moves overseas, these benefits often follow.
“The United States cannot afford to surrender this strategic advantage,” Kennedy declared, adding, “America should not lose clinical research because of barriers that we have the power to remove.”
He announced that U.S. health agencies have “launched a coordinated effort to strengthen America’s clinical research enterprise and bring more clinical research and investment back to the United States.” These efforts include streamlining development programs, strengthening support for clinical trials, developing new technologies, and revisiting current regulations.
Kennedy further vowed to “protect the principles that matter most.” He wrote that patients deserve “transparency, informed consent and confidence that medical decisions rest on rigorous scientific evidence. We can accelerate clinical research without compromising scientific and ethical integrity.”
The health secretary previously vowed to fight for transparency within the food industry. In February, Kennedy pledged, “We will act on David Kessler’s petition.” Kessler served as the FDA Commissioner from November 1990 to February 1997.
“And the questions that he’s asking are questions that FDA should’ve been asking a long, long time ago,” Kennedy added. He further explained that he is not saying that the agency is going to “regulate ultraprocessed food,” but instead “make sure that everybody understands what they’re getting, to have an informed public.”
