# Project WP-02 — BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

**Program element:** 0602024E — Warfighting Performance  
**Project:** WP-02  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 2 — Applied Research  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E

## Summary

Project WP-02 — BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY requests $190.0M in FY2027, 52% of the $364.1M requested for program element 0602024E, up 14% on FY2026. 14 R-2A activities decompose the request.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 0.0 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 166.5 |
| FY2027 | Request | 190.0 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 202.6 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 205.8 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 208.4 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 211.4 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 0602024E; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project WP-02 buys

The Biomedical Technology project focuses on applied research for medical related technologies that will maintain warfighter health and performance before, during, or after operations. Successful technologies within this project will maintain warfighter health against emerging threats through novel biothreat detection, rapid medical countermeasure identification and development, and distributed production of effective therapeutics. In-theater, warfighter health will be maintained through the development of field-relevant technologies such as reliable and accessible critical medical resources, novel detection and protection capabilities for traumatic brain injury, and rapid, effective triage of battlefield injuries. Additionally, this project will improve warfighter readiness by characterizing and assaying physical and cognitive performance to drive data-driven awareness. Prior to FY 2026, efforts in this Project were funded in PE 0602115E, Project BT-01.

## Activities (R-2A) — 14

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biomedical Technology Studies and Concepts | — | 10.3 | 57.2 | +453% | [a11](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a11) |
| Generative Optogenetics (GO) | — | 15.6 | 28.0 | +80% | [a7](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a7) |
| Smart Red Blood Cells (Smart-RBC) | — | 4.0 | 21.2 | +431% | [a10](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a10) |
| Protean | — | 6.5 | 15.7 | +143% | [a9](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a9) |
| BioElectronics to Sense and Treat (BEST) | — | 16.7 | 14.2 | −15% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a0) |
| Medics Autonomously Stopping Hemorrhage (MASH) | — | 9.2 | 14.0 | +52% | [a8](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a8) |
| Novel Delivery Technology for Medical Countermeasures | — | 19.0 | 12.1 | −36% | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a1) |
| Alert WARfighter Enablement (AWARE) | — | 12.1 | 6.1 | −50% | — |
| Reengineering Enabling Sleep Transitions in Operationally Restrictive Environments (RESTORE) | — | 6.5 | 5.7 | −12% | — |
| Controlled Genome Protection | — | 7.4 | 5.4 | −26% | — |
| Red Blood Cell Factory (RBC-Factory) | — | 10.1 | 5.3 | −47% | — |
| GOLDen hour extended EVACuation (GOLDEVAC) | — | 18.5 | 4.9 | −73% | — |
| Rapid Battlefield Triage | — | 20.1 | — | −100% | — |
| Next-Generation Combat Casualty Care | — | 10.5 | — | −100% | — |

> Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it.

### Biomedical Technology Studies and Concepts

- Initiate development of biological, bio-inspired, or bio-hybrid platforms that enhance the detection, characterization, and protection against emerging threats, both in warfighters and agricultural crops. - Investigate cellular engineering approaches that maintain physiology and viability and do not result in immunotoxicity…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a11

### Generative Optogenetics (GO)

- Generate molecular components that respond to distinct wavelengths of light. - Generate molecular components capable of producing nucleic acid sequences in response to light. - Initiate the development of a mechanism capable of detecting errors in a nucleotide sequence. - Initiate the integration of the developed components to generate…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a7

### Smart Red Blood Cells (Smart-RBC)

- Continue studies on editing cells to produce, position, and retain novel proteins in mature RBCs. - Continue computer simulation of gene editing impact on RBC metabolism and virtually optimize protein position/retention on mature RBCs. - Initiate experiments to produce, position, and retain novel proteins in mature RBCs. - Identify any…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a10

### Protean

- Predict binding sites within a protein dynamic trajectory. - Identify differences in protein dynamics between functional and dysfunctional protein targets that are relevant to chemical threat mechanisms. - Determine the structure and behavior of uncommon protein states. - Identify and validate energetically linked sites on the protein.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a9

### BioElectronics to Sense and Treat (BEST)

- Demonstrate accuracy in identifying single and mixed groups of microorganisms in vitro. - Demonstrate efficacy for at least one novel wound infection treatment approach in vitro. - Determine the appropriate regulatory pathway(s) for the wound infection sensing and treatment devices with the Food and Drug Administration. - Finalize the…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a0

### Medics Autonomously Stopping Hemorrhage (MASH)

- Assess mechanisms to achieve localization of a bleed in animal models. - Develop systems capable of autonomous identification and navigation in desired form factors. - Demonstrate successful navigation of a sensor suite and end effector to key anatomical regions in animal models. - Demonstrate performance of context-aware bleed…

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a8

### Novel Delivery Technology for Medical Countermeasures

- Demonstrate delivery of countermeasure cargo in additional cell types. - Demonstrate systemic delivery of countermeasure cargo. - Develop and demonstrate scale-up manufacturing of the highest-performing delivery vehicles. - Demonstrate delivery of two or more MCM modalities.

Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E/WP-02/a1

### Alert WARfighter Enablement (AWARE)

**FY2027 planned work.** - Refine NIR light delivery parameters to improve activation of candidate molecules. - Design and initiate safety and efficacy studies to support an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. - Characterize the effect of NIR light-activated candidate molecule(s) on cognitive performance following sleep loss in an animal model.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects a shift from technology development to regulatory approval activities.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Demonstrate activation of at least half of the candidate molecules using NIR light. - Demonstrate that candidate molecules experience conformational change and maximum absorbance in the desired wavelength of NIR light. - Characterize distribution and how long candidate molecules remain in the brain. - Integrate NIR light sources into a wearable device while minimizing weight. - Develop and integrate a rechargeable or replaceable power supply platform into the wearable device without a significant increase to overall weight.

### Reengineering Enabling Sleep Transitions in Operationally Restrictive Environments (RESTORE)

**FY2027 planned work.** - Conduct trials to validate system performance and refine interventions for optimal effectiveness. - Assess gaps in system readiness and outline steps for military integration and deployment.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects a shift from protocol design to prototype evaluation.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Continue design of a multi-modal system that orchestrates and optimizes sleep architectures. - Design an evaluation protocol to evaluate changes in sleep architectures and their effect on sleep quality. - Design an evaluation protocol to evaluate effects of changes in brain activity and sleep enhancement on cognitive performance.

### Controlled Genome Protection

**FY2027 planned work.** - Demonstrate successful end-to-end computational design, nomination, and validation of inhibitor candidates. - Demonstrate a novel inhibitor discovery pipeline. - Develop, demonstrate, and deliver a complete technology transfer package.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects a shift in research and development activities to conduct verification and validation studies of complete end-to-end pipeline for discovery of high-performing candidate inhibitors.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Demonstrate improved potency genome editor inhibitor activity. - Develop methods to detect off-target effects of new inhibitors of genome editing. - Demonstrate computational platform ability to rapidly discover new inhibitors of genome editors. - Demonstrate the ability of newly developed methods to accurately characterize inhibition of gene editors in vitro.

### Red Blood Cell Factory (RBC-Factory)

**FY2027 planned work.** - Evaluate the physiological changes and immunological effects of modified RBCs based on cargo parameters. - Validate RBC modification and determine if the approach can be scaled. - Assess the impact of the RBC-modified cargos and device platforms on RBCs.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects a shift to focus on the device validation and data gathering of RBC cargo capacity and physiology.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Develop non-genetic RBC modification technology prototype devices for delivery of cargo to RBCs. - Complete an in vitro RBC cargo survey to assess the impact of the RBC modification process on RBC survival and function. - Compare changes in RBC functions between normal RBCs and RBCs with cargoes in a laboratory environment. - Determine if RBC circulation time is changed by the addition of different cargoes.

### GOLDen hour extended EVACuation (GOLDEVAC)

**FY2027 planned work.** - Demonstrate the usefulness of care technologies that directly integrate oxygen and hemorrhage support during polytrauma (i.e., injury conditions requiring both types of support). - Develop a proof-of-concept hardware feasibility assessment illustrating how oxygen and hemorrhage support hardware could be combined into a portable form factor.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects completion of laboratory data collection efforts and a shift to proof-of-concept demonstrations.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Model the physiological effects of long-duration autonomous care to inform hardware design. - Build and begin testing of autonomous care technologies that combine oxygen and hemorrhage support prior to use in animal models. - Collect end user (field and aviation medic) feedback to identify key needs in austere domains to support design goals for portability. - Construct testbeds for evaluating polytrauma conditions (i.e., bleeding and oxygenation support capabilities) using animal models. - Develop a regulatory submission plan that provides a pathway for future human evaluation and testing.

### Rapid Battlefield Triage

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects program completion.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Conduct a second large-scale field experimentation, integrating additional autonomy and operating challenges in a competition format. - Finalize a database of trauma signatures with additional novel cases, incorporating sensors developed in previous years. - Evaluate field-portable triage solutions with increased operational challenges. - Evaluate approaches for stand-off capture of injury signature by fully autonomous systems in a real-world (physical) or virtual simulation. - Conduct a third baseline design, development, and integration of triage solutions in a larger scale integration exercise with additional operational challenges. - Conduct a third (final) large-scale field experimentation, integrating additional operating challenges in a competition format.

### Next-Generation Combat Casualty Care

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** The FY 2027 decrease reflects program completion.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Complete efficacy and safety studies with optimized therapeutic formulation against hemorrhage in complex trauma using animal models. - Provide the initial proof of concept for easy reconstitution and packaging suitability. - Provide the final demonstration of scaled-up manufacturing. - Complete final stability tests to demonstrate minimal loss of function.

## What is NOT on this page

Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602024E.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 0602024E project WP-02 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="0602024E")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*