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Our mission at ARPA-H is to develop high-impact solutions to the nation’s most challenging healthcare problems and to deliver those health breakthroughs in years, not decades. To achieve this ambitious goal, we ruthlessly focus on complex, impactful technologies. When hiring Program Managers and making award selections, we look for ideas that cannot be accomplished by traditional government or industry funding. We look for revolutionary advances. We look for what is truly “ARPA-Hard.”
Here’s what that means.
We focus on breakthrough-enabling technology
ARPA-H funds the technologies of the future that are just waiting to exist. Proposed work should tackle a broad health problem and propose a solution that, if successful, could have applications across settings or indications. Critically, ARPA-H will not fund work that offers only incremental advances, focuses on technology already at the clinical trial stage, or is limited to education or physical infrastructure. If another agency funds similar topics, the government will not duplicate efforts. Unlike the NIH and NSF, ARPA-H does not invest in foundational or basic research. We are purposely disease-agnostic and focus primarily on platform capabilities. Our aim is to translate bleeding-edge innovations into real-world results, and to do so on accelerated timelines.
Awarded proposals will typically advance a novel care model, produce a substantial technical innovation, or offer a new business solution to pressing health problems. In alignment with administration priorities and agency goals, ARPA-H’s cross-cutting efforts focus on defeating devastating chronic diseases, slowing aging, boosting domestic biomanufacturing, expanding rural healthcare access, and accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare. Learn more about our focus areas.
We balance high-risk for higher impact
Overall, ARPA-Hard problems demonstrate an urgent need and a clear vision to meet it. When that path is blocked, ARPA-H strategically lowers the risk across parallel lanes.
First, we de-risk investment by providing proof-of-concept for projects other funders might pass up. A success from ARPA-H includes a working technology that the private sector can confidently pursue. A key feature of awarded work is the promise of scalability – so that every American has access to the best innovations.
Second, we de-risk the regulatory pathway by working tightly with the FDA to ensure rigorous standards are met. This unique authority is especially important when novel technologies are being developed that fall outside existing regulatory standards. We similarly collaborate with payers to understand the best chance for adoption by doctors and patients.
We coordinate complex solutions
Managing risk takes a commitment to sound science and active portfolio management. Program Managers carefully monitor and adjust the research projects they oversee. The ARPA-model includes regular assessments so that only the most successful work continues. Valuable lessons are learned along the way, and we double-down on promising results. This nimble investment strategy provides private-sector-like flexibility to both ARPA-H and contracted performers. This contracting model also differs significantly from grant management, so be prepared for a different way of doing business.
These kinds of advanced solutions require multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches from across the medical, academic, and biotech industries. ARPA-H is uniquely poised to mobilize all parts of this ecosystem. We coordinate performer teams towards a common goal and leverage connections with payer, regulatory, and business experts to chart a path to market success; if a new medicine or device can’t “survive in the wild,” the effort isn’t truly a success. We measure outcomes not in publications or patents, but in lives saved.
We need you to build the future of healthcare
At ARPA-H, we don’t just stop with a demonstration of novel capabilities; we steward our breakthroughs to ensure they reach patients where they’re at. If you’re looking to leave a dent in the universe of healthcare, apply to be a Program Manager or submit to one of the Open Funding Opportunities.
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