WASHINGTON, November 6, 2026 — Chinese gene sequencing firm Novogene has filed suit against the Pentagon in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging its June addition to the Department of Defense’s list of “Chinese military companies.” The lawsuit, filed November 3, argues the designation was made without notice or evidence and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment.
The designation and its mechanics
The Pentagon’s list, maintained under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act, bars the department from awarding or renewing direct contracts with listed entities. The technical reality is that the restriction expands on June 30, 2027, to cover goods and services the Pentagon buys from those companies through third parties. Novogene was added on June 8 alongside Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and NIO, a cohort that spans e-commerce, search, electric vehicles and now genomics.
The Pentagon’s June notice alleged that China’s state-owned assets regulator indirectly owned Novogene and that the company held indirect ties to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the People’s Liberation Army. Novogene disputes the ownership claim, describing itself in its June statement as “an independent, publicly listed enterprise with no state ownership or control.”
Novogene’s US footprint
The company’s US subsidiary employs about 180 people at its Sacramento office and sequencing centers in Sacramento, California, and Beaverton, Oregon. Under the hood, the operation is a commercial genomics service provider — human whole-genome sequencing, transcriptomics, single-cell analysis — with no product line designed, developed or marketed for military use, according to the complaint. The lawsuit states the designation has caused “serious, irreparable, and unwarranted economic, reputational, and other harm.”
A growing docket of challenges
Novogene is not alone in pushing back. Last week a federal judge granted Alibaba a preliminary injunction protecting its access to Pentagon contracts while its challenge proceeds. In August, biotech firm WuXi AppTec secured a similar injunction blocking enforcement of its designation. Drone manufacturer DJI made progress the same month when an appeals court ordered a lower court to reconsider its case, finding grounds to question whether unclassified evidence supported the Pentagon’s conclusion that DJI had helped China’s defense industrial base. Two BYD subsidiaries sued last month over a separate provision barring Pentagon contractors from hiring lobbyists who also represent blacklisted companies, arguing the restriction violates their First Amendment rights.
Broader context
The legal battles unfold as Washington tightens defense-related ties with Beijing. Earlier this year President Trump restricted defense contractors seeking permission to purchase critical minerals from China. As ever, the detail that matters is the evidentiary standard: the Pentagon’s designations rely on unclassified assessments that companies argue do not meet the statutory threshold for inclusion. The next scheduled hearing in Novogene’s case has not yet been set.
Sources
- Novogene Takes Pentagon to Court Over Alleged Ties to China’s Military
- Novogene, US subsidiary sue Pentagon over military-ties listing
- Chinese genetic sequencing firm Novogene sues Pentagon over military blacklist
- Chinese genetic firm Novogene sues US over military designation
- Chinese genetic firm Novogene sues US over military designation
Photo: Linda Bartlett (Photographer) (Public domain)
