BARDA DRIVe

BARDA Accelerator Network — Proof-of-Concept Funding

Supports United States health-security teams with early milestone-based funding for proof-of-concept countermeasure work.

The BARDA Accelerator Network is a five-hub network providing $50,000 to $200,000 in milestone-based proof-of-concept funding for early-stage health-security technologies, with applications accepted on a rolling basis and priority deadlines published by each hub. The five hubs are: VITAL (therapeutics and vaccines, six-month projects), BioTools Innovator VANGUARD (enabling technologies for drug discovery and development, six-month projects), Paratus (digital health tools for preparedness and response, four-week to twelve-week projects), SPARK for Innovations in Pediatrics (pediatric MCMs, six-month projects), and a fifth hub covering diagnostics and medical devices. Each hub is operated under a BARDA-managed Other Transaction Authority and maintains its own focus areas, review cycles, and mentorship programming.

Awards are structured as milestone-based Other Transaction contracts with a median of approximately $125,000. The estimated annual pool across all five hubs is roughly $15 million, representing about 120 awards. Eligible TRL range is 2 through 5. All organization types except individuals are eligible provided they are U.S.-registered and U.S.-based. Proposals are reviewed based on BARDA priorities and availability of funds; funded projects are typically reviewed within twelve weeks of submission. Alongside POC funding, the hubs historically offered cohort accelerator programming with mentorship, entrepreneurship education, and commercialization support, though most cohort programs were paused in late 2025 pending re-competition.

The Accelerator Network is the lowest-barrier entry point into the BARDA funding ecosystem and is designed to de-risk very early technologies before they are ready for the DRIVe EZ-BAA Standard or the main BARDA BAA. Applicants should be specific about the health-security gap being addressed, map their work to the relevant hub's published focus areas, and include a clear plan for how POC results will support next-stage funding. The SMART Antiviral Prize ($100 million), run under the VITAL hub, is a separate one-off prize competition and is not part of the recurring Accelerator Network POC funding.