US Department Of Health, Defense To Inject $1B To Boost Domestic Biomanufacturing

As part of President Joe Biden’s executive order to beef up U.S. biomanufacturing, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has laid out actions that include regulatory support for advanced manufacturing technologies and investments in drug production infrastructure.
In collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), HHS will invest $1 billion in bio-industrial domestic manufacturing infrastructure over five years.
“This support will provide incentives that will enable private- and public-sector partners to expand manufacturing capacity for products important for defense supply chains, such as critical chemicals,” the HHS said.
The HHS also said it would invest $40 million into expanding biomanufacturing for active pharmaceutical ingredients, antibiotics, and industrially relevant key starting materials needed to produce essential medications needed for current or future pandemic responses.
The DoD will shell out an additional $200 million to enhance biosecurity and cybersecurity measures for those facilities supported under the $1 billion initiative.
Biden’s order includes a big focus on biosecurity after the COVID-19 pandemic as a poignant reminder of the vulnerabilities in global drug supply chains.
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