Biosphere Secures $21 Million Department of War Contract for Biomanufacturing of Critical Chemicals
Funding will support industrial-scale production technology designed to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains for
Press Release Disclaimer: This is a press release distributed through the XPR Media network. It has not been independently verified by our newsroom.
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Biosphere, a developer of next-generation biomanufacturing infrastructure, today announced a $21 million contract from the U.S. Department of War to advance a new class of industrial biomanufacturing systems capable of producing critical materials domestically, at scale, and at dramatically lower cost.
The award, made through the Defense Industrial Base Consortium, funds Biosphere to prototype, commission and operate next-generation 20,000-liter industrial bioreactors, demonstrate integrated manufacturing processes, and complete the engineering and economic analyses needed to support larger deployments.
The award follows Biosphere’s $9 million U.S. Army contract earlier this year to develop an on-demand nutrition production system for warfighters, further expanding the company’s role in advancing biomanufacturing capabilities for national defense.
The investment comes amid growing concern about the resilience of the U.S. industrial base and the nation’s dependence on foreign supply chains for strategically important chemicals and materials. As competition with China intensifies, the ability to rapidly establish and expand domestic manufacturing capacity is becoming increasingly important to both national security and American economic competitiveness.
“America’s ability to compete with China depends in part on our ability to manufacture the materials that underpin our economy and national defense,” said Brian Heligman, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Biosphere. “Biomanufacturing offers an entirely new approach to this challenge. Instead of relying on complex global supply chains and highly specialized production facilities, we can use biology to manufacture a broad range of critical chemicals from domestically available feedstocks. We aim to make that capability economically competitive at industrial scale.”
Building a New Generation of American Manufacturing Infrastructure
Biosphere is developing a flexible biomanufacturing platform that combines advanced bioreactor architectures, process intensification, and proprietary automation and control systems. The company’s technology is designed to substantially reduce both the capital cost of building manufacturing facilities and the operating costs associated with producing biologically derived materials.
Unlike conventional chemical manufacturing facilities, which are typically designed around individual products or tightly defined production processes, biomanufacturing can leverage common infrastructure to produce a diverse range of chemicals and materials. This flexibility has the potential to transform how the U.S. develops and maintains strategic industrial capacity.
Under the agreement, Biosphere will develop and commission a 20,000-liter industrial bioreactor, demonstrate integrated manufacturing processes, and complete engineering and economic analyses to support future larger-scale deployments. The program will also advance alternative reactor designs intended to deliver higher production performance with simpler, lower-cost equipment and infrastructure. These innovations could enable manufacturing facilities to be constructed more quickly, operated more efficiently, and deployed at a wider range of locations than traditional industrial biomanufacturing plants.
“Building a resilient industrial base isn’t simply about bringing existing manufacturing processes back to the U.S.,” Heligman added. “It’s about developing fundamentally better ways to manufacture. If we can dramatically reduce the cost and time required to establish new production capacity, we can change the economics of domestic manufacturing and open up entirely new categories of products that are practical to make in America.”
About Biosphere
Biosphere is an American biotechnology company whose mission is to help scale production of industrial bioproducts through manufacturing innovation. Using its next-generation reactor designs, Biosphere aims to reduce the capital and operating costs associated with commercial biomanufacturing. The company is developing its first industrial-scale plant, a 20,000-liter facility funded by the U.S. Department of War. Founded in 2022 by Brian Heligman and Arye Lipman, Biosphere is based in Oakland, California.
Biosphere is hiring! Check out our open roles.
Learn more at www.biosphere.io.
Media Contact
Dylan Foster
Communications Strategy Group (CSG)
dfoster@wearecsg.com
Media gallery
