BARDA’s Strategic Plan
2022-2026

Preparedness

Since its creation in 2006 through the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (Public Law No. 109-417), BARDA has steadily grown its capacity to develop life-saving medical countermeasures to protect Americans from public health emergencies. Whether protecting against known national security threats such as anthrax or newly emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19, BARDA has successfully partnered with the private sector to overcome economic and scientific challenges to develop lifesaving MCMs available when needed during public health emergencies. BARDA will continue to support advanced development and procurement of MCMs for known high-priority threats and will leverage lessons learned and innovative technologies to enhance preparedness against potential known and unknown threats. It will focus investments on technologies that have the potential to make available MCMs faster, safer, and more accessible. It will achieve this goal by: (1) developing MCMs that address known threats and are rapidly adaptable to be applied against new threats, (2) spurring innovation in MCM development, (3) understanding and addressing the needs of end users who administer MCMs, and (4) developing MCMs to meet the needs of the entire population.

Objective 1.1: Accelerate the development of agile MCMs that can pivot and be brought to scale in response to new threats

Objective 1.2: Catalyze innovation across the MCM development pipeline

Objective 1.3: Embrace end-user needs and promote interventions across the continuum of care

Objective 1.4: Protect all members of our communities against an evolving threat landscape

Response

Since its inception, BARDA has been mobilized to respond to the H1N1 influenza virus, Zika virus, Ebola virus (multiple times), and SARS-CoV-2 public health emergencies, as well as prepared to respond to influenza virus outbreaks such as H5N1 and H7N9. These experiences underscore the importance of mobilizing quickly, leveraging partnerships, and identifying proven technologies that can be rapidly adapted to new threats. BARDA will achieve this goal by: (1) evaluating the response posture for MCMs in BARDA’s portfolio, (2) ensuring manufacturing capabilities can meet the scale needed during emergencies, (3) providing support services to the industry during an emergency, (4) pursing acquisition vehicles that can be rapidly leveraged in an emergency, and (5) addressing all segments of the population in BARDA’s response posture.

Objective 2.1: Enhance BARDA’s response posture by leveraging a diverse MCM portfolio of proven technologies

Objective 2.2: Build a resilient, surge-capable, flexible manufacturing ecosystem that prioritizes increased domestic capacity

Objective 2.3: Enhance and sustain response-ready support services

Objective 2.4: Leverage acquisition vehicles that enable rapid response

Objective 2.5: Ensure BARDA’s response posture accounts for the needs of all segments of the population

Partnerships

In addition to supporting scientific innovation, BARDA supports innovative businesses with a proven track record by forming novel public-private partnerships. For each partnership, BARDA identifies the best potential business models, domestic and global partners, and the most advanced technology that can successfully deliver lifesaving MCMs in the event of a public health emergency.

BARDA’s vision to grow and leverage these partnerships includes: (1) promoting adaptable partnership models, (2) sustaining current and establishing new partnerships, (3) identifying ways to promote the long-term sustainability of supported products, and (4) expanding partnerships with socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.

Objective 3.1: Advance new, adaptable partnership models

Objective 3.2: Foster existing and establish new partnerships

Objective 3.3: Enhance sustainability by supporting development and repurposing of products and technologies with commercial value

Objective 3.4: Expand partnerships with socially and economically disadvantaged businesses

Workforce

Investing in the science that drives the development of innovative and next-generation MCMs is a critical component of BARDA’s future success, and it is underpinned by its workforce and their available tools. BARDA must ensure that all personnel – both its federal workforce and support contractor workforce – feel empowered in advancing health security. BARDA will continue to foster a world-class workforce by: (1) recruiting and retaining top talent, (2) promoting diversity across BARDA, including in leadership roles, (3) supporting career development and mentoring, and (4) providing staff the tools they need to perform effectively.

Objective 4.1: Recruit and retain leading experts across the BARDA enterprise

Objective 4.2: Promote diversity across BARDA

Objective 4.3: Expand career development and mentorship opportunities

Objective 4.4: Adopt modern business, analytics, and communications tools to enhance efficiency