Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced an overhaul of clinical trials for new drugs, a measure he justified as necessary to prevent China from gaining supremacy in the biotechnology industry.

Kennedy announced the new project from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health on Wednesday, saying that modernizing clinical trials is a top priority for the Trump administration because the United States “cannot afford to lose” the race against China and other countries for dominance in biomedical innovation.