Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§285f–5 Research Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern

Title 42 › CHAPTER 6A — PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER III — NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES › Part C — Specific Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes › subpart 6 — national institute of allergy and infectious diseases › § 285f–5

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director must set up or keep a research program that pays for centers to speed up discovery and early development of medical products for virus families and other viruses that could cause a pandemic. The Director will give money to public or private groups through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements. The centers will do basic research and work on products before human testing, find targets for treatments like antivirals, look for existing medicines that might help (including ones for use outside hospitals), and do other related research the Director finds appropriate. The Director must help the centers share information and must require regular reports. When choosing who gets money, the Director should favor applicants with existing plans and partnerships. The Director will work with other federal agencies to pick priority viruses and will coordinate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) about research progress, advanced development needs, and manufacturing capacity. Funds must add to, not replace, other public or private support.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §285f–5

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Director of the Institute, in collaboration, as appropriate, with the directors of applicable institutes, centers, and divisions of the National Institutes of Health, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, shall establish or continue a multidisciplinary research program to advance the discovery and preclinical development of medical products for priority virus families and other viral pathogens with a significant potential to cause a pandemic, through support for research centers.

(b)Uses of funds

The Director of the Institute shall award funding through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to public or private entities to provide support for research centers described in subsection (a) for the purpose of— (1)

(2)identifying potential targets for therapeutic candidates, including antivirals, to treat such pathogens;

(3)identifying existing medical products with the potential to address such pathogens, including candidates that could be used in outpatient settings; and

(4)carrying out or supporting other research related to medical products to address such pathogens, as determined appropriate by the Director.

(c)Coordination

The Director of the Institute shall, as appropriate, provide for the coordination of activities among the centers described in subsection (a), including through—

(1)facilitating the exchange of information and regular communication among the centers, as appropriate; and

(2)requiring the periodic preparation and submission to the Director of reports on the activities of each center.

(d)Priority

In awarding funding through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under subsection (a), the Director of the Institute shall, as appropriate, give priority to applicants with existing frameworks and partnerships, as applicable, to support the advancement of such research.

(e)Collaboration

The Director of the Institute shall—

(1)collaborate with the heads of other appropriate Federal departments, agencies, and offices with respect to the identification of additional priority virus families and other viral pathogens with a significant potential to cause a pandemic; and

(2)collaborate with the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority with respect to the research conducted by centers described in subsection (a), including, as appropriate, providing any updates on the research advancements made by such centers, identifying any advanced research and development needs for such countermeasures, consistent with section 247d–7e(a)(6) of this title, and taking into consideration existing manufacturing capacity and future capacity needs for such medical products or technologies, including platform technologies, supported by the centers described in subsection (a).

(f)Supplement, not supplant

Any support received by a center described in subsection (a) under this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other public or private support for activities authorized to be supported.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 285f–5

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110