Army wants better, faster defenses against chemical and biological threats
Gettyimages.com/ Dmitri Toms
By
Nick Wakeman
An updated broad agency announcement covers everything from Ebola vaccines to radiation countermeasures, as well as how to use artificial intelligence
The Army has issued an update to its broad agency announcement looking for research-and-development efforts that can more quickly bring medical solutions to the field.
The BAA was first issued in 2022 and the new announcement again emphasizes the need for countermeasures to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
The Army has divided its research efforts into five categories:
- Biological prophylaxis. This includes vaccines and immunotherapies to battle agents such as Ebola, Marburg, plague, tularemia, anthrax and weaponized toxins such as ricin, and botulinum. The Army is particularly interested in multi-agent approaches versus single-agent vaccines.
- Chemical and biological therapeutics for combating nerve agents, blister agents and biological threats.
- Radiological countermeasures to increase survival from radiation exposure. The Army has battlefield requirements such as no refrigeration, long shelf-life and single-dose efficacy.
- CBRN diagnostics that can detect and identify warfare pathogens, chemical agents, toxins and radiation.
- Enabling technologies that can accelerate the development pipeline such as computational drug design, rapid antibody development, artificial intelligence and supply chain security.
The Army was also clear on some of the things they do not want, such as proof-of-concept or early-stage research. They are focused on advanced development efforts that have a clear path to approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
There is no deadline for responding, so companies can submit proposals anytime. The BAA also has flexibility with the types of awards the Army can make – contracts, grants or other transaction authority.