Life Science Washington Institute is one of only 13 accelerators in the nation to partner with BARDA’s DRIVe program to solve challenging problems spanning modern health security threats and daily medical care.
What is BARDA?
Established in 2006, the mission of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is to develop and procure medical countermeasures, vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products, that address the public health and medical consequences of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) accidents, incidents, and attacks, pandemic influenza, and emerging infectious diseases. Specifically, BARDA supports the advanced development and procurement of drugs, vaccines, and other products that are considered priorities for responding to and recovering from threats to American national health security. To date, the medical countermeasures and products in this diverse portfolio have received a total of 61 FDA approvals, licensures, or clearances.
What is DRIVe’s Mission?
To help BARDA be prepared for any public health emergency by identifying and derisking the world’s most promising technologies and capabilities, no matter their origin, towards the development of tomorrow’s medical countermeasures.
What is DRIVe’s Vision
To ensure the most effective life-saving medical countermeasures are developed for, available to, and used by everyone who needs them when they need them.
DRIVe Program Areas (Click here to view the full EZ BAA and description of funding opportunities) :
- ENACT – Too often, people do not receive adequate and timely treatment for infectious diseases. Early Notification to Act, Control, and Treat (ENACT) aims to provide actionable health information to individuals and medical care providers in early stages of an infection, ideally ahead of noticeable symptoms.
- Solving Sepsis – Sepsis is one the country’s most urgent and costly systemic health threats. Solving Sepsis is catalyzing technological approaches along the sepsis patient continuum to empower both the patient and the healthcare provider with a focus on innovative technologies.
- Beyond the Needle – Beyond the Needle is developing alternative vaccine technologies to make vaccinations easier to administer and more widely available. The goal is to reduce the burden of traditional vaccine delivery via needle and syringe on the healthcare system and supply-chain – especially during a pandemic.
- ReDIRECT – In a chemical emergency, minutes matter and a timely response is necessary to save lives. The Repurposing Drugs in Response to Chemical Threats (ReDIRECT) program aims to repurpose therapeutics that are commonly available in our communities as medical counter measures and treat the symptoms associated with chemical agent exposure.
- ImmuneChip+ – The focus of ImmuneChip+ is on engineering 3-D in vitro human microphysiological tissues (e.g. lung, liver, gut, heart tissue, or others) and immune system tissues on a single platform, while adding in-line sensors for continuous tissue monitoring and utilizing platform materials suitable for automated manufacturing. We are specifically interested in adding immune system responsiveness to an existing, validated in vitro human tissue model (e.g. lung, liver, gut, heart, or others) and/or model infection with a viral, bacterial, or fungal pathogen, while demonstrating continuous monitoring of the tissues and capability for automated manufacturing of the platform.
For information on applying for one of the BARDA funding opportunities, visit https://drive.hhs.gov/partner.html
For any questions, more information or to request an informational meeting contact Aylin Kim aylin@lswinstitute.org.
In June 2020, LSW Institute hosted a webinar featuring reverse pitches and information about funding opportunities to address the COVID-19 pandemic. View the webinar recording from June 4, 2020.
