China’s Grand Pharmaceutical Group secured a rare Washington win after hiring a lobbying firm tied to Donald Trump Jr.’s orbit, with the national security watchdog rejecting a US startup’s request to review Grand Pharma’s investment weeks after the firm helped arrange a senior-level meeting.
FastWave, a Minnesota-based startup, had asked CFIUS in 2025 to review Grand Pharma’s 2021 $12 million investment and force either a divestment of Grand Pharma’s 40% stake or a downgrade to passive-investor status. The firm argued that Grand Pharma could be seeking access to its intellectual property and was also using investor rights to block fundraising, pushing the company toward severe financial distress.
FastWave manufactures a catheter that uses a special laser to treat calcium build-up in arteries. US shipments of that laser to China are regulated under US rules because the technology could also be used to enhance Chinese military capabilities. That is the national security hook FastWave wanted CFIUS to test.
Grand Pharma hired Checkmate in December and paid the firm $30,000 for two weeks of work on CFIUS matters that month. In early January, Checkmate helped Grand Pharma lawyer Jeff Bialos secure a meeting with Chris Pilkerton, the newly Senate-confirmed official leading the CFIUS, according to two people familiar with the matter.
At the end of January, CFIUS rejected FastWave’s filing for reasons unrelated to national security, according to a document seen by Reuters. The committee’s rejection letter focused on what it called “material misstatements” in FastWave’s filing.
CFIUS cited contradictions in FastWave’s description of Grand Pharma’s role in financing talks. The committee said FastWave told it in July 2025 that Grand Pharma had not provided “substantive feedback” on a financing round, then said in August that Grand Pharma had engaged in “substantive discussion.”
In a February 2026 response, FastWave said the later feedback amounted only to edits on a termsheet and arrived after the July statement. CFIUS rejected the filing without addressing whether the deal posed national security risks.
FastWave CEO Scott Nelson told Reuters the company faced “opaque and highly irregular procedural decisions” and said CFIUS rejected the filing on the last day of a review that had stretched beyond 200 days and included 29 question sets, without giving FastWave a chance to correct or clarify the statements at issue.
The access gap is part of what makes the case politically explosive. According to the documents and Reuters reporting, FastWave’s counsel sought calls with Pilkerton twice in January but only got calls with CFIUS staffers. Grand Pharma’s side, by contrast, got a senior-level meeting after Checkmate’s intervention. Bialos and Checkmate acknowledged that Checkmate arranged a meeting with senior Treasury officials but declined to specify with whom. Bialos said he could have arranged the meeting himself and called the case “a private commercial dispute… being squeezed into the CFIUS box.”
Checkmate is led by North Carolina lobbyist Ches McDowell, who appears in social media posts hunting with Donald Trump Jr. and has co-owned North Carolina property with him since 2021, according to a deed seen by Reuters. The lobbying firm said McDowell was listed on Grand Pharma’s disclosure but did not personally work the matter.
The underlying commercial fight also remains unresolved. FastWave said it grew worried after seeing a Grand Pharma website press release disclosing a new partnership with Jiangsu Zhenyi Medical Technology, which FastWave described as a Chinese rival. Bialos said Grand Pharma was only distributing the device for Jiangsu Zhenyi and had not violated its commitments.
Information for this story was found via Reuters and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
