BARDA's Programs to Combat Emerging Infectious Diseases

Speed is crucial in responding to an emerging infectious disease. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) invests in new approaches and technologies to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapeutic products, and diagnostic tests needed to respond to emerging threats.

BARDA invests in medical countermeasures (MCMs) to address known and a wide range of emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, Ebola, Zika, pandemic influenza, and more.

Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

With a decade of investments in platform technologies under flexible agreements, BARDA was able to rapidly pivot to developing COVID-19 MCMs. Starting with BARDA’s earliest awards in February 2020, the BARDA COVID-19 medical countermeasure portfolio has quickly grown as new partnerships and products have been added to respond to the pandemic.

BARDA is investing in flexible agreements, platform technologies that result in faster development, programs that expand access to medical countermeasures, sustainable approaches, improved delivery, and increased production capacity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridging the Valley of Death for EID Product Development

BARDA partners with industry, providing technical and financial support for the late stages of product development. This period, often referred to as the “valley of death”, is characterized by the gap between the end of Federal support for basic research and the expected revenue from selling the product.

BARDA has a proven track record of using supplemental funding to respond to emerging infectious disease outbreaks. In response to the Zika outbreak, BARDA provided support for the only FDA-cleared point-of-care diagnostic. BARDA funding has also supported a portfolio of FDA-approved medical countermeasures in response to the Ebola outbreak, including an FDA-cleared Ebola diagnostics, the only FDA-licensed Ebola vaccine, and approved therapeutic products to treat the deadly disease.