Biotech companies oppose Trump’s immigration order

The letter, titled US immigration order strikes against biotech, was published in Nature Biotechnology.

Some of the big pharma companies on the list include Biogen, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Seattle Genetics and Bluebird Bio.

The letter notes that more than half of biomedical researchers working in the US were not born there.

Trump’s controversial executive order bans citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen from entering the US on any visa category.

The letter by pharma companies notes that one study showed that 52% of the 69,000 biomedical researchers in the US were foreign-born.

It warned that the policy could deeply damage US leadership in the development of new medicines.

The letter notes, “It will slow the fight against the many diseases that afflict us, as well as carry negative economic consequences for the United States."

In the letter, executives said: "We the undersigned, founders and leaders of biotech companies, write to express our deep concern and opposition to the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on January 27, 2017, barring the entry of citizens from seven countries into the United States.

“Our success has been founded on the creativity and dedication of our most precious resource—our people. Our people include researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs and business executives from all over the world. They are colleagues in our laboratories, management teams and boardrooms.”

Image: US President Donald Trump. Photo: courtesy of The White House.