Industrial biotechnology is at a pivotal point, with tremendous and ongoing growth in technology contributing to a rich pipeline of opportunities: new products
new and more sustainable ways to make established products
and improvements to existing products and processes. The trillion-dollar questions are: When will there be a commercial breakout in industrial biotech as there has been in biopharma and ag biotech? What advances in technology are needed to make that happen? This article is drawn from the Workshop on Technology Challenges and Opportunities in Commercializing Industrial Biotechnology, sponsored by AIChE?s Society for Biological Engineering (SBE) and held Sept. 28?29, 2015, in San Diego. The workshop brought together industrial biotech stakeholders to share ? through presentations, case studies, interactive discussions, and exhibits ? perspectives on the state of industrial biotech, as well as to address key areas for technology advancement to benefit commercialization.