GHIC launches the Frontier Fund to seed new innovations to develop novel medical countermeasures
October 28, 2024
New York, October 28, 2024: The Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC), in partnership with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe), is excited to announce the launch of the Frontier Fund. The Frontier Fund is a $20 million non-dilutive funding program designed to catalyze and support innovations in global health security. The fund aims to support breakthrough research with the potential to unlock novel medical countermeasures that could lead to new public, private or public-private initiatives.
With a focus on early-stage translational research, the Frontier Fund will support bold, high-risk projects that have the potential for high impact, aiming to solve persistent challenges in global health security. The program will run from 2024 to 2028, supporting research that spans a broad spectrum of disciplines, including life sciences, biotechnology, market research, materials sciences, and computational science. By providing flexible funding through research funding and fellowships, the Frontier Fund will seek to identify and support groundbreaking solutions to global health security threats.
Fostering a new wave of innovation for health security
In addition to supporting research that addresses persistent challenges or bottlenecks in health security, the Frontier Fund is designed to support emerging innovations that could lead to the formation of new enterprises. By supporting early-career investigators and fostering collaborations through the health security research ecosystem, GHIC aims to nurture the next generation of global health security research leaders and entrepreneurs while also catalyzing the next wave of scientific innovation.
“The Frontier Fund represents a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of global health security research,” said Devin Sok, Ph.D., Head of Science at GHIC and Program Lead of the Frontier Fund. “We believe this program will not only help to develop new medical countermeasures but also make a meaningful contribution to the health security ecosystem.”
Funding mechanisms
The Frontier Fund will have three separate but complementary funding mechanisms:
1. Innovation Showcase: Supporting large-scale, consortium-led projects that seek to develop transformative platforms and technologies. These projects will drive major breakthroughs, generating resources that are broadly enabling for the field.
2. Research Initiatives: Targeted awards for principal investigators working on medium-to-small scale projects designed to address known bottlenecks in global health security research.
3. Early Investigator Fellowships: Offering flexible funding to support bold ideas from early-career investigators. Fellowship recipients will be supported through collaboration and mentorship opportunities, fostering a new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs in health security research.
Creating a Long-Lasting Impact on Global Health Security
By funding high-potential research and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, the Frontier Fund aims to build a pipeline of innovations that will have long-lasting benefits across health security with potential benefits across other research domains, such as oncology, cardiovascular disease, and antimicrobial resistance. In addition, the Frontier Fund will convene annual gatherings of funded investigators, providing a unique platform for networking and collaboration with stakeholders across the global health security ecosystem, including BARDA’s DRIVe and GHIC’s networks of partners and stakeholders.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Devin Sok, Ph.D.
Program Lead
This project has been funded in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe) under Other Transaction Authority agreement number 75A50121C00020.
About BARDA Ventures:
BARDA Ventures is a program within BARDA’s Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe). The team works closely with GHIC to prioritize efforts within the partnership that have the highest potential impact on BARDA’s mission, managing engagements with BARDA’s deep pool of technical experts as needed to evaluate prospective investments or advise portfolio companies, and coordinating with leadership within DRIVe and across BARDA to integrate investment activities to complement other BARDA programs.