DoD Awards Seven Bioindustrial Manufacturing Contracts

NIA Staff
2 min read

Summary

  • The U.S. military is investing $23 million across 13 bioindustrial firms to build domestic production capacity for defense-critical materials, from smokeless propellants to high-performance fabrics.

  • Selected companies could unlock follow-on awards of up to $100 million each to construct full-scale U.S. manufacturing facilities, signaling the program's long-term ambitions.

  • The push is explicitly designed to cut Pentagon dependence on overseas supply chains for biotechnology inputs deemed essential to national security.

The Department of Defense (DoD) announced seven new awards to bioindustrial firms as part of the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP). This brings the total to 13 awards since the program’s inception, allocating $23 million to date. The DBIMP initiative, aligned with Executive Order 14081, "Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy," aims to enhance America’s bioeconomic infrastructure and strengthen defense capabilities.

The awardees include:

  • Battelle (Columbus, Ohio): $1.85 million for planning a facility to produce cost-effective chemicals for smokeless propellants and other defense materials.

  • Modular Genetics (Cambridge, Massachusetts): $2.53 million for developing domestic production of key chemicals for energetic materials, reducing reliance on overseas sources.

  • Genomatica (San Diego, California): $1.51 million to design a biorefinery for polymer precursors used in aviation and automotive sectors.

  • Industrial Microbes (Alameda, California): $1.55 million to convert ethanol feedstock into acrylic acid for various defense applications.

  • ZymoChem (San Leandro, California): $1.57 million to create biobased monomers for military fabrics and high-performance materials.

  • The Better Meat Co. (West Sacramento, California): $1.48 million to develop a facility producing mycoprotein ingredients for defense food supply chains.

  • Biosphere (Oakland, California): $1.5 million to plan production of high-performance oils for food, fuel, and fabrication.

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