NSCEB Aims for Modernized Regulatory System to Propel U.S. Ahead of China in Biotech Competition
The NSCEB outlines 83 policy options to streamline the regulatory process and unleash the potential of emerging biotechnologies across the U.S.
13 JANUARY 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC – Today, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) launches new analysis and 83 policy options to modernize and accelerate U.S. regulatory review of biotechnology products across the federal government.
These papers build on the Commission’s comprehensive report and action plan published last year and include 30 government-wide options and 53 in-depth options across four major product areas: medical products, plants, microorganisms, and animals.
Biotechnology is already used to make products that help the United States defend, build, nourish, and heal, but an outdated regulatory system creates unnecessary burden and slows or prevents new products from coming to market. Streamlining regulation will reduce that burden and get more products to market faster while continuing to ensure safety. A more efficient process will unleash U.S. biotechnology innovation and support economic growth and national security.
“We are long overdue for a modernized regulatory system for biotechnology,” said NSCEB Chair Senator Todd Young. “When innovation is slowed here, it doesn’t stop globally—it moves overseas. Streamlining biotech regulation will strengthen our domestic industrial base, secure critical supply chains, and ensure the United States—not the Chinese Communist Party—sets the pace in the technologies that will define the next century.”
“In a sector where China is rapidly gaining ground, enabling American innovators to move from lab to market efficiently is essential to maintaining both our technological leadership and our national security,” said NSCEB Vice Chair Michelle Rozo. “Smart regulatory reform is not about lowering standards; it’s about aligning them with science, speed, and strategic reality. Reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens on biotechnology products will accelerate commercialization, attract investment, and reinforce U.S. economic resilience.”
Policy Options Across Specific Product Areas
Medical Products
Today, clinical trials and biopharmaceutical investments are flowing to China, taking money, innovation, and manufacturing out of the United States These new policy options are designed to reverse these trends and reclaim American leadership. The FDA needs a modernized approach to regulating biotechnology so Americans can fully benefit from cutting-edge medical treatments.
Plants
Plants produced with biotechnology are already a key tool for American farmers and growers, but a fragmented regulatory system spanning multiple agencies makes it difficult to bring new products and solutions to market. These options increase regulatory efficiency by reducing redundant, inconsistent processes to the benefit of America’s agriculture industry, in particular smaller developers of specialty crops.
Microorganisms
Precision-engineered microorganisms are the backbone of biomanufacturing and other biotechnology processes, but a fragmented review system and lack of commercial case studies create uncertainty for regulators and developers alike. Rapidly advancing technologies often do not fit neatly into existing assessment frameworks, further slowing review of new applications. Engineered microorganisms require flexible but predictable oversight and a streamlined regulation system. Without action, the United States will be unable to reap the full benefits of microbial biotechnology.
Animals
Modern biotechnology offers animal traits that could strengthen food security, revolutionize human medicine, produce new materials, and contribute to conservation efforts, but ill-suited regulatory processes severely limit the products that make it to market. Developers of these innovative biotech solutions are moving their business overseas. These policy options will strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and open up access to innovative new solutions for farmers and ranchers across the agriculture sector.
About NSCEB: The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is a time-limited, high-impact legislative branch advisory entity whose purpose is to advance and secure biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and associated technologies for U.S. national security and to prepare the United States for the bioindustrial revolution. The Commission published a comprehensive report in April 2025, including recommendations for action by Congress and the federal government. The bipartisan Commission is composed of Congressionally-appointed Commissioners with members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as experts from industry, academia, and government. For more information about the Commission and to view the report, visit: biotech.senate.gov.
Contacts:
NSCEB: press@biotech.senate.gov
