Attorney General Hanaway Joins 20-State Coalition Alerting National Security Council to Pharmaceuticals Exploited by Chinese Supply Chain

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Attorney General Catherine Hanaway joined a 20-state coalition in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio alerting the administration to a grave national security risk to the pharmaceutical supply chain that is actively being exploited by Chinese-sourced businesses. In one instance, a business in China exploiting the gaps in oversight had direct ties to entities that manufacture fentanyl.

"My office will not stand idly by while Chinese-affiliated entities tied to fentanyl production are exploiting oversight gaps to push unsafe, unapproved drug ingredients into our supply chain," said General Hanaway. "We will continue to work for the safeguards needed to keep these knock-off products out of Missouri and ensure uninterrupted access to the safe, legitimate, and lifesaving medications that citizens rely on."

The letter identifies national security risks from dangerous pharmaceutical ingredients used in popular compounded GLP-1 drugs, including semaglutide, tirzepatide, and retatrutide.

In September 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a "Green List" of suppliers, effectively allowing Chinese suppliers to "to ship unapproved, knock-off products to the United States without detention or inspection." As the letter states, despite efforts to verify the "true source, chain of command, and downstream use of the ingredients in real time," the Green List has become a proven laundering channel.

Specifically, Chinese company Harbin Jixianglong Biotech Co., Ltg (Harbin) was found to have purchased knock-off semaglutide from a non-Green List facility that was not registered with the FDA. Since Harbin was on the Green List, it was only after an on-site inspection that it was discovered that Harbin had repackaged and relabeled the non-Green List products under Harbin's name, changed the manufacturing and retest dates, and distributed them to the United States.

General Hanaway signed onto the Alabama-led letter and was joined by attorneys general from Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.

The signed letter can be read here.