Today the White House announced the [‘National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative’] (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/12/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-launch-a-national-biotechnology-and-biomanufacturing-initiative/), which I’m quite excited about. Joe has been quite busy as of late (can we say Midterms?) and it’s good to see some science and technology initiatives and funding. Biotech is an incredibly diverse and powerful field that has already drastically improved humanity’s quality of life. Hint: You can’t be pro-insulin and anti-GMO at the same time. While scientific endeavors can be inherently flawed since humans are involved, it’s what we’ve got and we have to keep moving forward. Can close-to-flawless science and technology exist without being tainted by capitalism? Personally, SpaceX is a great example of how industry and government can work to achieve greatness. How do we replicate SpaceX with Biotech?That might be worth a post.

The initiatives

Grow Domestic Biomanufacturing Capacity.

Today, many U.S. bio-companies perform their manufacturing abroad owing to the lack of domestic infrastructure. This Initiative will build, revitalize, and secure national infrastructure for biomanufacturing across America, including through investments in regional innovation and enhanced bio-education, while strengthening the U.S. supply chain that produces domestic fuels, chemicals, and materials. Many U.S. Biotech companies outsource manufacturing, even software development. Interesting to see how this extends to the local level. What resources/programs will be made available across America to bring manufacturing opps? Really interested to see how this develops.
Expand Market Opportunities for Bio-based Products.

The BioPreferred Program is the standard for sustainable procurement by government agencies, both providing an alternative to petroleum-based products and supporting good-paying jobs for American workers. The Initiative will increase mandatory bio-based purchasing by Federal agencies, including through training and support for contracting officers, and ensure that the Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are regularly publishing assessments of progress. In so doing, it will provide specific directions to industry about gaps in biobased product options, leading to the creation of new products and new markets. Together, the Initiative will grow and strengthen the ==BioPreferred Program==, increase the use of renewable agricultural materials, and position American companies to continue to lead the world in bio-innovation.

This piece feels …a bit bureaucratic to me. One thing worth noting is the amount of plastic waste that is generated by biological sciences every day. The amount of tip boxes that I have gone through in my day could be seen as an ecological disaster. We need alternative ways to process samples, reduce our tip and other material usage, and to find petroleum alternatives for labware. I could feel the internal struggle to want to be environmentally conscious but to also generate so much waste at the bench.

Drive Research and Development (R&D) to Solve Our Greatest Challenges.

Focused government support for biotechnology can quickly produce solutions, as seen with the first-of-their-kind mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Initiative directs Federal agencies to identify priority R&D needs to translate bioscience and biotechnology discoveries into medical breakthroughs, climate change solutions, food and agricultural innovation, and stronger U.S. supply chains.
Improve Access to Quality Federal Data.

Combining biotechnology with massive computing power and artificial intelligence can produce significant breakthroughs for health, energy, agriculture, and the environment. This Data for the Bioeconomy Initiative will ensure that biotechnology developers have streamlined access to high-quality, secure, and wide-ranging biological data sets that can drive solutions to urgent societal and global problems.

Federal informatics systems need a drastic overhaul. This could be a separate post.

Train a Diverse Skilled Workforce.

The United States is facing a shortage of relevant talent spanning all levels, from community college to graduate school. The Initiative will expand training and education opportunities for all Americans in biotechnology and biomanufacturing, with a focus on advancing racial and gender equity and support for talent development in >underserved communities.

100 percent onboard here. One barrier for biotech is the stigma of not having a PhD. I’ve struggled with this my entire career and I know many others that have as well. Elon Musk’s view of MBAs may be an equivalent attitude we need to adopt when it comes to PhDs and science. Please please please also do not misinterpret what I mean: I have incredible respect for those with PhDs and mean absolutely no disrespect. However, I would like to see less barriers to entry for innovation. Not having this type of degree is definitely one of those barriers.

Streamline Regulations for Products of Biotechnology.

Advances in biotechnology are rapidly altering the agricultural, industrial, technological, and medical products landscape, which can create challenges for developers and innovators. The Initiative will improve the clarity and efficiency of the regulatory process for products of biotechnology so that valuable inventions and products can come to market faster without sacrificing safety.

It definitely feels like 90% of the funds and attention will go to this point. Translation: The FDA is overwhelmed and they need help to get things through approval in a responsible yet efficient manner. Front-loading the FDA submission process through templates, guidelines, hell maybe the FDA needs Doulas. My wife is pregnant. She would get this metaphor.

Advance Biosafety and Biosecurity to Reduce Risk.

The Initiative will prioritize investments in applied biosafety research and incentivize innovations in biosecurity to reduce risk throughout the biotechnology research and development lifecycles.

Translation: Let’s make sure we stop finding Smallpox stashed in the back of someone’s -80C.

Protect the U.S. Biotechnology Ecosystem.

The Initiative will protect the U.S. biotechnology ecosystem by advancing privacy standards and practices for human biological data, cybersecurity practices for biological data, standards development for bio-related software, and mitigation measures for risks posed by foreign adversary involvement in the biomanufacturing supply chain.

Standards for bio-related software sounds pie-in-the-sky but I do agree that there should be some standards, similar to NCCN guidelines or CAP but for software. HL7/FHIR should be taught in school and there should be more tutorials out there.

Build a Thriving, Secure Global Bioeconomy with Partners and Allies.

The Initiative advances international cooperation to leverage biotechnology and biomanufacturing to tackle the most urgent global challenges – from climate change to health security – and to work together to ensure that biotechnology product development and use aligns with our shared democratic ethics and values, and that biotechnology breakthroughs benefit all citizens.

Great talking points that hopefully amount to some actual action. I’m interested in how the BioPreferred program will shake out and what that means for biotech startups. Also, how do startups or even existing companies tap into these initiatives to drive innovation? Hopefully we’ll learn more soon.

LOL side note: Since I type this in VSCode, I don’t catch my grammatical errors as easily. So this time I pasted into a google doc, and google tried correcting a sentence that I didn’t write, but it came from the WH release. Also, how do I even Markdown? I need some practice.