BARDA has been successful in developing and making available products that prevent, diagnose, and treat the illnesses and injuries caused by individual threat agents. In doing so, BARDA has found that systemic problems across most of the illnesses and injuries must also be resolved to save lives. DRIVe will solve problems that many health security threats have in common, systemic challenges, leveraging the flexibility provided to BARDA under the 21st Century Cures Act.

To infuse a new entrepreneurial spirit into biodefense, DRIVe draws the best in the field and the best in the business together to define the challenges. DRIVe accelerators across the country work like prospectors, identifying innovative potential solutions. We recognize that innovation can come from anyone anywhere in the U.S., or around the world, not just from Silicon Valley. DRIVe's nonprofit venture capital innovation partner will join other venture capitalists in funding development of the solution. Advanced development and manufacturing could be completed with support from BARDA through its portfolio partnerships, traditional contracts, or other transaction authority, through the innovation partner, or by private industry. Since many of the challenges DRIVe must solve for health security are also common problems in health care and biotechnology (examples: sepsis, detecting illness immediately), private investment is likely to further drive those solutions to the commercial market.

BARDA was created to fill gaps in medical countermeasure development and solve problems no one else could, for example, bringing new influenza vaccine technology to the market for pandemic preparedness, surge capability for medical countermeasure production in an emergency, and clarifying a path to product approval using animal models for CBRN products. We focus on innovative problem-solving with a shrewd approach to risk and the flexibility to craft win-win public-private partnerships; this focus has led to 35 FDA-approved products in 12 years, demonstrating unprecedented success. We also are drawing on lessons learned and recommendations from federal agencies like DARPA and the agencies involved in In-Q-Tel on working with venture capitalists. With a strategic investment and venture capital approach, the government actually takes on less risk than it would with a traditional development grant.

We'll use every tool at our disposal: from flexible consortiums, agreements, and contracts to venture capital investments and prize challenges.

We'll use every tool at our disposal: from flexible consortiums, agreements, and contracts to venture capital investments and prize challenges.