S.Amdt. 6334

The American Biotechnology Competitiveness Act is an amendment to bill S. 4784. Its purpose is to maintain United States leadership in biotechnology, improve national security, and strengthen the domestic industrial base for biopharmaceuticals.

The amendment aims to add the following to the bill:

• Biosecurity and Biosafety: It requires the Secretary of Commerce to create regulations for "covered providers" who sell synthetic nucleic acids. This includes screening orders for "sequences of concern," verifying customer identities, and establishing a conformity assessment system with audits. It also mandates a review to streamline biosecurity authorities across the Federal Government.

• Innovation and Standards: It directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create AI-ready standards for biological datasets. It also establishes a "biotechnology governance sandbox program" for testing biosecurity innovations.

• Research Infrastructure: It creates the National Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network, consisting of up to 6 nodes. These nodes are physical laboratories that can be remotely programmed using AI and robotics to conduct research.

• Biomanufacturing: It establishes the National Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Innovation Center. This center is designed to advance the science of manufacturing drugs, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains, and provide workforce training.