March 20, 2022- 8:02 p.m.
Biden Touts New U.S. Agency He Says Will Drive Breakthroughs in Biomedicine
Biden on Friday (March 18) touted the newly launched biomedical research agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), saying it will pursue bold ideas and drive breakthroughs in medicine.
“ARPA-H will have a singular purpose: to drive breakthroughs in biomedicine to prevent, detect and treat diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes,” Biden said in remarks at the White House.
ARPA-H officially launched this week, after a government spending bill Biden signed into law on Tuesday (March 15) included $1 billion for the agency.
“ARPA-H will pursue ideas that break the mold on how we normally support fundamental research and commercial products in this country.
Ideas so bold, no one else, not even the private sector, is willing to give them a chance or to sink a lot of money into trying to solve,” Biden said. “Ideas so audacious that people say they just might work only if, only if, we could try. Well, we’re about to try in a big way.”
ARPA-H is modeled after the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that develops emerging technologies for military use.
