Changing SOX? Senate bill would extend biotech exemption

A bipartisan group of Senators reintroduced legislation that would extend an exemption for pre-revenue biotechs from compliance with certain accounting rules under Sarbanes-Oxley.

Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) reintroduced the Fostering Innovation Act (S. 452) Tuesday that would extend to 10 years an exemption for some public emerging growth companies (EGCs). The bill defines that group to include companies that maintain a public float below $700 million and average annual revenues below $50 million. According to a white paper published Monday by BIO, biotechs account for 40% of all EGCs...