Anesthetics for Battlefield Care (ABC)

Background
The Anesthetics for Battlefield Care (ABC) program is a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) issued by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Biological Technologies Office (BTO). The program aims to produce drugs for use in traumatic injury capable of safe, unmonitored anesthesia to enable earlier life-saving interventions, reduce the trauma associated with battlefield-injury, and improve combat casualty outcomes.

Grant Details
The ABC program is divided into two sequential phases totaling 60 months. Phase 1 is 36 months and Phase 2 is 24 months. The program has two Technical Areas (TAs): TA1 is Discovery, focusing on uncovering novel targets and mechanisms involved in anesthesia and validating those targets. TA2 is Medicinal Chemistry, involving the design of chemical compounds that work through the targets identified in TA1 to achieve a safer anesthetic state. The program has specific milestones and metrics for each phase, including demonstrating target contribution to anesthesia, producing battlefield-ready intervention for inducing anesthesia, and demonstrating safety and efficacy of interventions in a healthy mammalian model.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include proposer teams with the expertise needed to achieve the goals of both TA1 and TA2. University or non-profit research institution performance under this solicitation will include effort categorized as fundamental research. Performers are required to comply with due diligence to identify Foreign Components or participation by Senior/Key Personnel in Foreign Government Talent Recruitment Programs.

Period of Performance
The program spans over 60 months. A Go/No-Go demonstration will occur at 36 months, and successful fulfillment of the criteria will be required for progression into phase 2. The end of the program evaluation will occur at month 60.

Grant Value
Multiple awards are anticipated under this BAA. The amount of resources made available will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.