The Department of Defense has selected the first awardee to contribute to the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program, a.k.a. DBIMP.
Biotechnology company Debut will be given $2 million to deliver business and technical plans that outline the construction of a U.S.-based bioindustrial manufacturing production facility, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The facility’s construction would be funded via the Defense Industrial Base Consortium Other Transaction Agreement.
Aprille Ericsson, assistant secretary of defense for science and technology, said this award is a big step forward in fulfilling the vision that Deputy Secretary of Defense and 2024 Wash100 Award winner Kathleen Hicks first conceived last year.
“By making these investments in domestic bioproduction infrastructure, we are making a significant move toward fortifying the American industrial base,” Ericsson said. “The DoD is committed to leveraging biotechnology to secure our competitive advantage and keep pace with the demand for next-generation capabilities for our warfighters and allies.”
Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, said the award shows the DOD’s growth toward expanding the domestic yield of capabilities for U.S. national supply chains. (The production center would output precursor substances necessary for producing manufacturing ingredients, materials, resins, polyesters and thermosetting resins.)
“This award marks an important step — the first of many — for the DIBC OTA, and shows the progress we are making toward building more resilient supply chains, growing our manufacturing workforce, and using more flexible acquisition authorities,” said Taylor-Kale.
If Debut’s plans are approved, the company could be awarded up to $100 million to move on to the next face of DBIMP. More award selectees will be announced later this month.