# 1) Biological Warfare Defense Prophylaxis

**R-2A activity** of project PT2 — Protect (Applied Research)  
**Program element:** 0602384BP — Chemical and Biological Defense Program  
**Component:** Defense-Wide · **Budget Activity:** 2  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602384BP/PT2/a0  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602384BP/PT2

## Summary

This activity requests $20.9M in FY2027, 27% of project PT2, up 27% on FY2026. The R-2A exhibit describes it across FY2025–FY2027, including what the FY2027 money is planned to buy.

## What the FY2027 request buys

**FY2027 planned work.** - Continue to evaluate and develop new tools/assays that can predict vaccine effectiveness against infection and disease. - Continue to evaluate and develop strategies for safer vaccines and to optimize the effectiveness of a vaccine, to include antigen and formulation optimization, alternative delivery mechanisms and cell targeting. - Develop alternative testing platforms that prioritize reducing reliance on safety/efficacy models. - Conduct structural analysis of host-toxin interactions to determine how to disrupt with potential MCMs. - Successful candidates transition to Project PT3/Protect (Advanced Technology Development) for continued preclinical development prior to transition to advanced development. - Continue to identify and evaluate novel broad spectrum or multivalent vaccine platforms for use with multiple types of pathogens, to enable rapid response to future emerging pathogens.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Increase will resource optimizing the effectiveness of a vaccine, to include antigen and formulation optimization, alternative delivery mechanisms and cell targeting.

## Before the request year

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Continue to identify and evaluate prophylactic strategies that can be used to protect against new and emerging pathogens. This includes multiple modalities such as broad-spectrum vaccines, antibodies and immunomodulators. - Continue to identify and evaluate novel broad spectrum or multivalent vaccine platforms for use with multiple types of pathogens, to enable rapid response to future emerging pathogens. - Continue to expand medical countermeasure modernization efforts to reduce logistics and optimize immune responses by developing novel administration strategies (e.g. oral, intranasal), that can fine-tune the immune response to vaccines with the goal being vaccines with neutralizing efficacy. - Continue to develop capabilities to accelerate medical countermeasure development such as novel testing platforms for safety and efficacy. - Continue to test and evaluate integrated layered defense strategies with candidate vaccine/therapeutic combinations to broaden protection and avoid interference between medical countermeasures.

**FY2025 accomplishments.** - Continued evaluation of multiple prophylactic modalities to counter biological toxins. - Evaluated three platform technologies in proof of concept experiments for potential use against new and emerging threats. These platforms emphasize broad-spectrum protection and computational design. - Initiated development of novel administration strategies (e.g. needle free) to reduce logistical burden and optimize immune response. - Continued development of key enabling technologies (assays and safety/efficacy models) to accelerate Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for vaccine and pretreatment development.

## Funding

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 13.4 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 16.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 20.9 |

> Prior, current and budget year only — an R-2A activity carries no five-year plan. It sums exactly into its project in the request year and not necessarily in any other.

## Other activities in project PT2

- [8) Nerve Agent Prophylaxis](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602384BP/PT2/a7) — FY2027 21.1
- [2) Biological Warfare Defense Prophylaxis - Enhanced Biological Defense](https://hitchintel.com/programs/0602384BP/PT2/a1) — FY2027 20.9
- 5) Multifunctional Materials for Protection — FY2027 8.5
- 6) Protective Garments — FY2027 3.3
- 4) All-Hazards and Respiratory Protection — FY2027 1.9
- 3) Air Purification Enhancements — FY2027 1.4
- 7) Enabling Science — FY2027 —

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibit R-2A, PE 0602384BP project PT2 (PB PB2027). Narrative is the government's own text.
- **No marks, no contractors at this grain** — congressional marks land on the program element and R-3 performers on the project.
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_activity`.

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