Time to double down on DoD investments in platform technologies for combating biological threats

The document advocates for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to prioritize funding for platform technologies to combat biological threats. It highlights the success of mRNA technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting its ability to reduce vaccine development timelines from over ten years to a fraction of that time. The author argues that shifting away from a "one-bug, one-drug" approach toward flexible platforms enhances national security by making it harder for adversaries to circumvent defenses and by reducing the incentives for developing bioweapons. The text specifically recommends the Biden administration increase R&D funding for these technologies through the Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP).

• Platform technologies allow for the rapid discovery and manufacture of medical countermeasures against diverse biological threats, significantly reducing development timelines. While average vaccines typically take over ten years to develop and distribute, platform technologies reduced this timeline by a factor of ten during the COVID-19 crisis; for example, Moderna created a vaccine within four days of receiving the genetic details of SARS-CoV-2.
• The DoD's Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) established the Transformational Medical Technology Initiative in 2006 to move away from the "one-bug, one-drug" strategy, which is characterized as slow, inflexible, and expensive. Although CBDP budgets have generally declined, funding specifically for platform technologies has appeared to rise consistently over the last four years.
• mRNA vaccine platforms are identified as particularly promising because they perform well and have lower dual-use risks compared to virally vectored vaccines. Virally vectored vaccines pose a higher risk because they require expertise and technology similar to that used to create engineered viruses.
• Investing in platform technologies serves as a deterrence mechanism against the development and use of biological weapons. Because these platforms provide a rapid response to a wide variety of pathogens, they are more difficult for adversaries to engineer around than stockpiled vaccines or countermeasures targeted at a specific list of threats like plague or botulinum.

APA

Beaver, W. (2021). Time to double down on DoD investments in platform technologies for combating biological threats. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/01/25/time-to-double-down-on-dod-investments-in-platform-technologies-for-combating-biological-threats/

Chicago

Beaver, William. Time to double down on DoD investments in platform technologies for combating biological threats. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2021. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/01/25/time-to-double-down-on-dod-investments-in-platform-technologies-for-combating-biological-threats/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Beaver |first1=William |title=Time to double down on DoD investments in platform technologies for combating biological threats |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=25 January 2021 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/01/25/time-to-double-down-on-dod-investments-in-platform-technologies-for-combating-biological-threats/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{beaver2021time, author = {Beaver, William}, title = {{Time to double down on DoD investments in platform technologies for combating biological threats}}, publisher = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2021/01/25/time-to-double-down-on-dod-investments-in-platform-technologies-for-combating-biological-threats/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }