On November 20th, 2023, Asia Society Seattle hosted a roundtable discussion on the opportunities and challenges in U.S.-China biotech collaboration. The featured speakers were Andrew Scharenberg, founder and CEO of Umoja Biopharma and Kristi Heim, Senior Director of Communications at Element Biosciences.

Scharenberg remarked on the substantial advances China has made in biotech, and emphasized the necessity of global collaboration to find cures to the most difficult diseases. He touched on the vast array of clinical trials being conducted in China, the possibility of increased access to treatments such as CAR T-Cell therapy through cross-border partnerships, and the importance of continuing collaboration despite political pressures.

Kristi Heim provided examples of significant advancements born from global collaboration, such as the NIH's Human Genome Project. She discussed how the medical field could transcend national borders, and the unique advantages both the U.S. and Chinese medical fields bring to the table.

In the Q&A session, a highly engaged audience discussed a variety of issues with the speakers, including  responsibility in gene editing, uses of AI, the dwindling of student exchanges, public sentiment between the two countries, and India's possible role in the collaborative landscape.