Exploring the Role of Women and Minority Biomedical Entrepreneurs as Suppliers to the U.S. Federal Government, 2001-2020: Progress, Barriers, and Implications for Social Transformation

Small businesses owned by women and minority biomedical entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly critical role as suppliers to the U.S. Federal government. National innovation policies for broadening the participation of these entrepreneurs in the biomedical industry may offer a way to address issues of health equity while also bolstering economic empowerment. Although participation rates in the biomedical industry have increased from 21.4% to 28.3% for women-owned firms and from 17.8% to 40.1% for minority-owned firms, our analysis of a sample of 98,275 registered biomedical products and services suppliers drawn from a population of 678,620 small businesses eligible for Federal transactions (2001-2020) reveals that these small businesses still face significant barriers to growth compared to their male and non-minority counterparts.