On Nov. 15, 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report on Building a Vibrant Domestic Biomanufacturing Ecosystem. This report describes the current state of U.S. biomanufacturing capacity and identifies key factors driving growth.

Stakeholders indicated that while the United States has maintained a leadership role in biomanufacturing innovation, we still need infrastructure to scale-up technology and produce in America. The global bioeconomy is projected to expand at a rapid pace in the coming decade due to advancements in key technology areas, such as the ability to program microbes to act as microscopic factories by manipulating their DNA.

The U.S. bioeconomy—defined as economic activity derived from the life sciences, particularly in the areas of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, including industries, products, services, and the workforce—has the potential to create thousands of jobs and billions in economic growth.

Biomanufacturing is the use of biological systems to produce goods and services at commercial scale, and enables the conversion of plants, waste materials, and industrial off-gas into molecules that form the building blocks of everyday consumer products, medicines, fuels, and more. Sustained growth in U.S. biomanufacturing capacity—the ability to produce with the infrastructure and operational resources available—is the key to growing the bioeconomy.

Federal investments since the 2022 signing of the Bioeconomy Presidential executive order (EO) increased from $2.7 billion to more than $3.5 billion. The EO laid out a policy framework for continued government coordination and encouraged stakeholders to continue the momentum for U.S. innovation in biotechnology and biomanufacturing.