DARPA Biological Technologies Office (BTO) Broad Agency Announcement
Executive Summary:
DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office (BTO) is accepting rolling proposals to fund transformative biology-enabled capabilities for national security. An abstract is required before a full proposal, and both abstracts and proposals are accepted until September 30, 2026. For selected proposals ≤$2,000,000 that opt into the accelerated path, awards can be made within 30 days of selection. Companies targeting this BAA should submit an abstract as soon as possible as they are reviewed on a rolling basis.
How much funding would I receive?
Funding levels are not pre-set; BTO anticipates multiple awards across topics. An optional accelerated award path is available for selected proposals not exceeding $2,000,000 total, using model agreements tailored for small and large businesses.
What could I use the funding for?
Research & Development proposals that leverage biological properties and processes to revolutionize our ability to protect the nation’s warfighters. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.
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Biological and/or chemical technology topic areas that fit the national security scope of BTO’s mission.
Research into market opportunities, constraints, and communities affecting financing and commercialization of bioindustrial and biomedical technologies.
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• Developing and advancing our understanding of the impact and principles underlying biological data generation, assessment and incorporation into the biological foundation models, or mixed-mode foundation models. This includes taking theoretical approaches as well as understanding the scaling laws of these data for various types of models.
• Advancing the capabilities of broad or narrow biological and/or chemical or mixed-mode foundation models far beyond the state of the art.
• Developing and proving non-experimental models or hybrid experimental/non-experimental assessment strategies for biological foundation model assessment.
• Exponentially accelerating the time scale of biological system simulation from the subcellular through multicellular, organismal and environmental systems, including for threat prediction, impact assessment, and attribution modeling.
• Developing ML and AI-enabled technologies to improve the accuracy, precision, and efficiency of warfighter decision-making in complex and dynamic environments (e.g., on and off the battlefield), including for real-time threat assessment and response planning.
• The development of virtual testbeds, digital twins, and/or synthetic data to accelerate or improve the predictive modeling of human performance.
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• Developing novel diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic approaches for warfighter injury that can be provided even in austere settings and extreme conditions.
• Developing capabilities and technologies that enhance the ability of non-skilled service members to perform essential medical tasks closer to the point of injury, reducing dependence on highly trained personnel through assistive devices.
• Developing decision support tools that algorithmically optimize the alignment of medical requirements and resources in complex, data-constrained mass casualty scenarios to enhance near-real-time situational awareness and command and control (C2) planning and execution.
• Development of capabilities and technologies that enhance the ability of non-skilled service members to perform essential medical tasks closer to the point of injury, reducing dependence on highly trained personnel through assistive devices.
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• Understanding and improving treatment of and resilience in neurological health, transformative neural processing, fatigue, cognition, and optimized human performance and teaming, including in extreme stress conditions.
• Discovering interventions that utilize biotechnology, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, social and behavioral science, and related disciplines to assess and optimize human performance and teaming.
• Developing and leveraging technologies to advance continuous or near-continuous monitoring of physiology to elucidate mechanisms of human readiness, cognitive status, and resilience.
• Understanding and improving interfaces between the biological and physical world to enable seamless biohybrid systems and devices.
• Developing approaches to enhance physiological resilience, performance, and survivability in extreme conditions (e.g., cold weather, extreme heat, high altitude).
• Identifying technologies and tactics to increase or accelerate the impact of training regimens while reducing the risk of injury.
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• Designing novel materials, sensors, or processes that mimic or are inspired by biological systems.
• Creating tools such as foundation models or prediction engines to understand the underlying rules defining biomolecular and biomaterial or hybrid biotic/abiotic material structure/function properties (individual properties or groups of properties) in order to predict desired outcomes for novel material development. Importantly, these predictions should hold from the molecular scale to the macro scale.
• Developing new computational and experimental tools and predictive capabilities for engineering of biological systems, such as cells, tissues, organs, organisms, and complex communities, to both develop new products and functional systems, as well as to gain new insights into underlying mechanisms.
• Developing technologies to leverage biological systems and enhance the acquisition and maintenance of critical and strategic organic and inorganic materials.
• Understanding and leveraging complex biological systems into underlying functional rules and processes to provide models that govern interactions of biological systems from biofilms to organs or ecosystems.
• Developing new platform technologies that integrate, automate, and miniaturize the collection, processing, and analysis via direct or indirect interrogation of biological and chemical samples.
• Developing hybrid biological/engineered systems that integrate biological organisms, components, biologically-encoded circuitry, biogenic materials, or exploit biological phenomena to surpass capabilities of abiotic equivalents.
• Developing novel biological sensor platforms with reduced size, weight, and power requirements of equivalent electro-optical or electro-mechanical systems with orders of magnitude increase in equivalent performance.
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• Developing new technologies and approaches to ensure the biosafety and biosecurity of biological hardware and data. Ensuring the safety and security of AI technologies that accelerate biological research and development processes.
• Developing innovative technologies to detect, characterize, treat, prevent, and forecast the effects of novel, engineered, or natural emerging pathogens that have the potential to cause significant health, economic, and social burdens, to prevent their spread and enable understanding of their origin.
• Developing ML, AI approaches, and advanced data analytics for the rapid analysis, interpretation, identification, attribution, and origin tracing of large-scale, disparate biological and environmental surveillance data streams, enabling anomaly detection, pattern recognition, scalable detection, and predictive analytics to identify emerging threats or anomalous events and provide early warning and anticipatory action against natural or manmade biological threats.
• Advancing technologies for determination and attribution along with data provenance analysis at chemical, isotopic, genetic, and community structure levels.
• Developing novel sensing, surveillance, and processing technologies (including in-situ and remote modalities) to detect, identify, monitor, and analyze weak biological signals of emerging pathogens (novel, engineered, or natural) at all scales, including their secondary effects on the environment.
• Developing new technologies and data analytics to support next-generation surveillance, detection, identification, and attribution of human and agricultural pathogens at scale and in near real-time.
• Developing novel in-situ or remote sensing and surveillance technologies at the global, regional, and local scale that detect and identify novel, engineered, and/or natural emerging pathogens to prevent their spread or understand their origin.
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• Developing new technologies for rapid, automated, and resilient manufacturing, delivery, and distribution of critical molecules for applications in therapeutics, chemical, and biological defense.
• Developing new technologies to support next-generation cellular therapeutic applications.
• Developing new platform technologies for targeted, effective, spatiotemporally controlled delivery of large and small molecules and biologics.
• Leveraging biotechnology to create new platform solutions that combat antimicrobial resistance, generate novel drug and cell-based therapeutics, and treat warfighter injury and illness.
Are there any additional benefits I would receive?
Beyond the formal award, there are significant indirect benefits to receiving a DARPA Biological Technologies Office (BTO) contract or agreement:
Government Validation and Credibility:
Being selected by DARPA—the Department of Defense’s premier innovation agency—signals extraordinary technical credibility and alignment with national security priorities. This “DARPA validation” often accelerates partnerships with primes, OEMs, and investors who trust government-vetted innovation.Enhanced Market Visibility and Notoriety:
Award recipients frequently receive public recognition through DARPA announcements, defense innovation conferences, and press coverage. This visibility helps position your company as a cutting-edge player in defense biotech and deeptech, attracting further investment and talent.Ecosystem Access and Collaboration Opportunities:
DARPA performers gain access to the BTO’s extensive network, including technical advisors, transition partners, and resources. These programs support contractor readiness, compliance, and downstream transition—opening doors to additional government and industry contracts.Nondilutive Growth and Strategic Leverage:
Because funding is nondilutive, companies can scale and validate core technologies without giving up equity. This validation and maturity achieved under government sponsorship often lead to higher valuations and greater leverage in future fundraising or acquisition discussions.Faster Execution and Credible Track Record:
With DARPA’s accelerated contracting path, companies can move from selection to award in as little as 30 days—establishing a record of execution under one of the most selective R&D programs in the world, which strengthens competitiveness for future federal or dual-use opportunities.
What is the timeline to apply and when would I receive funding?
Abstracts are accepted on a rolling basis until September 30, 2026, 4:00 PM ET (abstract and DARPA invitation are required before any full proposal).
Full proposals are accepted on a rolling basis until September 30, 2026, 4:00 PM ET.
Accelerated option (≤$2M) awards may be issued within 30 days of selection notification if you submit the required election/attestations and use the model agreement.
Where does this funding come from?
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Biological Technologies Office
Who is eligible to apply?
All responsible sources—U.S. and non-U.S.—may submit, except FFRDCs, UARCs, and Government entities (incl. National Labs), which are not eligible as prime proposers. NAICS: 541714 (biotech R&D). Submissions must comply with U.S. security, export control, and related laws.
What companies and projects are likely to win?
The scoring criteria reward proposals that:
Present a bold, high-impact technical approach. Proposals that merely increment the state of practice are explicitly out-of-scope;
Directly advance DARPA’s national-security mission; and
Show credible cost/schedule realism with clear deliverables and risk-mitigation. Prior experience executing similar efforts and leveraging relevant prior research strengthen competitiveness.
Are there any restrictions I should know about?
Abstract is mandatory; DARPA must invite a proposal before it will be reviewed.
Compliance areas include CUI handling, cyber (e.g., NIST SP 800-171 assessments), export controls, and human/animal research approvals where applicable.
Certain entities/equipment (e.g., Kaspersky, certain telecom/DRONE restrictions, ByteDance apps) are prohibited by clause.
How long will it take me to prepare an application?
For a first-time applicant, preparing a competitive submission under this BAA will likely take 120–160 hours in total.
How can BW&CO help?
Our team specializes in complex federal R&D proposals and can:
Triple your likelihood of success through proven strategy and insider-aligned proposal development
Reduce your time spent on the proposal by 50–80%, letting your team focus on technology and operations
Ensure you are targeting the best opportunity for your project and positioning your company for long-term growth under Federal & State R&D Initiatives.
How much would BW&CO Charge?
Our full service support is available for a flat fee of $15,000 Project + a 5% Success Fee.
Fractional support is $300 per hour, with most DARPA proposal projects requiring 80–100 hours of expert support from strategy through submission of full proposal.
For startups, we offer a discounted rate of $250 per hour to make top-tier grant consulting more accessible while maintaining the same level of strategic guidance and proposal quality.