BRAINS ISO Amendment 1

ARPA-H-SOL-26-148, BRAINS

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS OPENING

FOR

BRAIN REPAIR OF ANY INJURED NEURAL STRUCTURE

BRAINS

HEALTH SCIENCE FUTURES

ARPA-H-SOL-26-148

JUNE 8, 2026

Amendment 01: June 23, 2026

ARPA-H-SOL-26-148, BRAINS

3.1.1

PROHIBITION OF PERFORMER PARTICIPATION FROM FEDERALLY FUNDED

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTERS (FFRDCs) AND OTHER GOVERNMENT

3.1.2

3.1.3

3.2

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.4.1

5.4.2

CRITERIA 2: PROPOSER’S CAPABILITIES AND/OR RELATED EXPERIENCE

5.4.3

CRITERIA 3: POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO RELEVANCE TO THE ARPA-H

5.4.4

5.5

5.6

ARPA-H-SOL-26-148, BRAINS

6.1 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION (CUI) ON NON-FEDERAL

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

PROCUREMENT OF SYNTHETIC NUCLEIC ACIDS OR BENCHTOP

6.7

APPENDIX A: Solution Summary Content and Instructions
APPENDIX B: Full Proposal Content and Instructions

ARPA-H-SOL-26-148, BRAINS

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS OPENING (ISO) SUMMARY INFORMATION

FEDERAL AGENCY: Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) EXPLORATORY TOPIC TITLE: Brain Repair of Any Injured Neural Structure (BRAINS) ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO)

ISO SOLICITATION NUMBER: ARPA-H-SOL-26-148

ISO CONTACT: [email protected]

ANTICIPATED AWARDS: Other Transactions
DATES: (All times listed are Eastern Time)
Posting Date: June 8th, 2026
Virtual Only Proposers’ Day (PD): June 9th, 2026, 12:00 PM Virtual Only Proposers’ Day Video Link: https://arpa-h.gov/explorefunding/initiatives-and-sprints/BRAINS Questions & Answers (Q&A) due date: June 22nd, 2026, 5:00 PM Questions & Answers (Q&A) session: June 24th, 2026, 3:30 - 5:30 PM Sidebar session: June 25th, 2026, 3:30 - 5:30 PM
Intake Group 1:
Solution Summaries Due: July 9th, 2026, 5:00 PM
Full Proposals Due: August 6th, 2026, 5:00 PM
Intake Group 2:
Solution Summaries Due: January 7th, 2027, 5:00 PM
Full Proposals Due: February 6th, 2027, 5:00 PM

WHERE TO SUBMIT:

Solution Summaries: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/Submit-Solution/ Proposals: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/Submit-Proposal/ Questions: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/Ask-A-Question/

1. INTRODUCTION TO BRAINS

1.1 BACKGROUND

Many forms of degenerative disease or damage (e.g. strokes, ataxias, tumors, congenital conditions, injury, aging, neurodegeneration etc.) can afflict specific brain structures, leaving tens of millions of Americans permanently disabled, with no effective way to recover lost abilities or independence.
Today, no procedure or therapy exists to replace damaged or degenerated brain tissue to restore lost function. Treatments are limited to physical, psychological, and occupational