Biortechnology Oct. 17, 2025

Fueling the Frontline: How Federal Investment Powers U.S. Biopharmaceutical Innovation

Biotechnology is no longer just a driver of health innovation; it is a strategic asset at the core of U.S. national security and economic power. Within this landscape, the biopharmaceutical industry anchors America’s innovation ecosystem, producing lifesaving therapies, enabling crisis response, and sustaining high-value employment. At the center of this success lies public investment, particularly through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds the foundational research that catalyzes scientific discovery, enabling the private sector to develop the transformative biopharmaceuticals that save lives.

Biotechnology May 31, 2024

Biotech Diplomacy: Strengthening U.S. National Security and International Partnerships with Brazil and Argentina through Health, Food, and Economic Innovation

As we reach the mid-2020s, the United States navigates a period of strategic competition characterized by rapid technological advancement that presents extraordinary opportunities and formidable new threats. Simultaneously, U.S. adversaries seek to capitalize on these technological shifts to support their populations while undermining the rules-based international order. In this context, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are racing for dominance in these emerging technological areas. The biotechnology (biotech) industry represents one of the most important arenas for this great power competition, pitting autocracy against democracy. Biotech can empower democracies by fostering innovations in healthcare and agriculture, saving millions of lives while transforming the global economy. By promoting accessibility to biotech, the U.S. government can position more vulnerable populations to benefit from this emerging technology and strengthen U.S. influence by building new partnerships with developing countries.

Biotechnology: May 30, 2023

Biotechnology: How the United States Can Mitigate Risks and Increase Opportunities for the Next Industrial Revolution

Like the previous industrial revolutions in chemistry and engineering, the era of biotechnology is swiftly altering human progress and the global landscape. The biotech industry is rapidly changing how humans create food, acquire resources, and approach healthcare – it has the potential to impact every facet of human life. Biotechnology provides tools through which humanity can effectively tackle the adverse consequences of human development, encompassing environmental degradation, climate change, and the inequitable distribution of food supplies. Biotechnology is also presenting society with new challenges, compelling people to confront ethical dilemmas, security threats, and divisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of this rapidly expanding industry.

Biotechnology: May 30, 2022

Securing the Strategic Advantage in Biotechnology

The United States (U.S.) is the world leader in biotechnology (biotech) and innovation. Biotech availability has increased competition in the global market, threatening America's dominance in the industry. Biotechnology is simply defined as the "application of biology for useful purposes." It is not a defined list of products or industries but a set of "enabling technologies" that are industrialized and used to replace chemical compounds. The biotech industry is one of the world's fastest-growing, lucrative, and expansive global markets, introducing new scientific methods and bio-products at an unprecedented pace. Research-intensive biotech corporations have effectively redefined modern medicine, enhancing health care and developing techniques to increase human performance at the molecular level. Industry revenues exceed the global semiconductor market and contribute more than seven percent of America's gross domestic product (GDP). Advancements in bioengineering and manufacturing led to increased agricultural, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical productivity within the U.S. This report provides an overview of the biotech industry, its application to the defense industrial base, global competition, and its impact on U.S. policy and strategy to protect national security while maintaining the leading edge in the field.

Biotechnology Oct. 30, 2020

Biotechnology

With thousands of people dying each day from the pandemic outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), 2020 brought challenges previously unseen in the world. As the world reacts and tries to overcome this virus, biotechnology will be the industry to take the lead and forge the path forward. It will not be without difficulty though as the United States (US) must surge and mobilize against an unplanned enemy and must wade through ethical issues previously unrealized. In addition, the triple helix – the interaction between academia, industry, and government – must ensure enough resilience and adaptability to respond to unanticipated circumstances and emerging needs.1 Collaboration within the US triple helix is essential to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate threats. Biotechnology, defined by the seminar as “Leveraging technology to understand living processes, organisms, and systems to alter and/or enhance health and performance, prevent and cure illnesses and diseases,”2 is often dual-use in nature with related risks and threats to public health and national security, as we are currently witnessing during the pandemic. In 2020 the possibilities and potential advantages of biotechnology have suddenly become extremely important as the world deals with a pandemic claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The possibilities allowed with new technologies make biotechnology an exciting and fast-changing area of science.

Biotechnology Oct. 4, 2018

Biotechnology

In 1990, the U.S. Government launched the largest and most ambitious biology project ever: mapping the human genome. As significant to biology as putting a man on the moon was to physics, the goal for completion was fifteen years at a cost of two billion dollars.1 Thirteen years later, the U.S. Department of Energy and National Institute of Health had led a highly successful public-private partnership across research centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, and China to map 92% of the human genome with 99.99% accuracy. This initiative helped dramatically reduce the cost of human genome sequencing over the last twenty years. The first “draft” genome sequence in 1999-2000 cost ~$300 million worldwide (of which the National Institute of Health provided 50-60%). By 2017, commercially available techniques reduced this cost to below $1,000. This single metric portends groundbreaking potential for a wide variety of healthcare and quality of life applications. It also highlights a high return on government investment.

Biotechnology Dec. 30, 2017

Biotechnology

A comprehensive US National Security Strategy must recognize the underlying drivers of instability and conflict and fully leverage the US biotechnology industry in applying innovative solutions. As a pillar of national security, a strong, innovative and growing economy is an enduring national interest. The biotechnology industry’s impact on the national economy is significant and growing; in 2014 it contributed 2.2% of GDP with revenues predicted to increase 29% by 2019. Investment in biotechnology will drive innovation and shape the future workforce while improving our health and controlling the fastest growing US liability – rising healthcare costs. As the world population increases, bio-agriculture is already helping with food and water insecurity. The United States can harness the full potential of biofuels and biomaterials to end fossil fuel reliance and make America the world’s leader of renewable fuels. Lastly, innovative biotechnical solutions will improve our military and protect our population from harm. With proper resourcing and regulation, the biotechnology sector will be a vital component in our National Security Strategy.