Amendment 8: DRIVe EZ Broad Agency Announcement

Office of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development
Authority (BARDA) Division of Research, Innovation & Ventures

(DRIVe)

Amendment 008 Issuance for Easy Broad Agency Announcement

(EZ-BAA) BAA-22-100-SOL-00003

The purpose of this Amendment is the following:

1) Add the following Area of Interest (AOI):

AOI #25: FASTx

2) Update the language in Section III (F) of the Easy
Broad Agency Announcement titled “Plus (+) Phase”

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW INFORMATION

A. Development Opportunity Objective:

Under this Amendment, DRIVe is doing the following:
1)

Adding the following research Area of Interest (AOI):

AOI #25: FASTx

We are seeking abstract submissions for the following AOI: AOI #25 : Nucleic acid-based platform development for Flexible and Strategic Therapeutics

(FASTx)

Antiviral therapy is essential to reduce disease burden and improve clinical outcomes for viral infections. However, emerging viral outbreaks are difficult to predict, and viral mutation can render medical countermeasures (MCMs) like monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and small molecules that target viral proteins ineffective. Development of new antivirals often cannot keep pace with rapidly emerging and evolving pandemics. Therefore, BARDA is seeking quickly adaptable therapeutic platforms to support its mission of preparedness and response to emerging viral threats that continue to occur with increasing frequency, scale, and diversity. Nucleic acid-based antiviral platforms are of particular interest due to their potential for rapid adaptation to diverse viral threats based on pathogen sequence data alone. Investments that advance the development of nucleic acid-based antiviral platforms will improve BARDA’s ability to address public health emergencies caused by viral diseases. BARDA is requesting abstract submissions for projects that aim to advance the development of rapid response, nucleic acid-based platforms for the treatment of viral infections from multiple viral families. These platforms may include, but are not limited to, nucleic acid-expressed mAbs, double-stranded RNA-mediated interference (RNAi), clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeat-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas), and locked nucleic acids (LNAs). Candidate platforms should have the capacity to generate therapeutic candidates able to target a diverse set of viral families and a strong mechanistic justification for their use during acute viral infection or for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Preference will be given to submissions