Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD –
On August 01, 2024, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open a rapid response laboratory on their campus in Livermore, California. In coordination with the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense and LLNL, the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) established a laboratory dedicated to rapidly testing potential medical countermeasure (MCM) candidates.
The rapid response lab will initially be used in part for the JPEO-CBRND's Generative Unconstrained Intelligent Drug Engineering (GUIDE) program. GUIDE harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) and experimentation capabilities to computationally design and validate potential MCM candidates based on several critical criteria and data as a product. The rapid response lab fulfills the experimentation part of the program by providing a space to test these potential MCM candidates without being hindered by traditional laboratory backlogs, which oftentimes is a factor in slowing the MCM development process.
The LLNL rapid response team will work with the JPEO-CBRND’s GUIDE team, to enable rapid and iterative testing of new MCMs within the laboratory’s advanced infrastructure. The rapid response lab can test many MCM candidates simultaneously, increasing the likelihood of identifying MCMs that are effective against a new threat, but without the time or cost required for large-scale manufacturing.
Mr. Darryl Colvin, the Joint Program Executive Officer for CBRN Defense said, “our partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory allows us to achieve our CBRN readiness and response goals by giving us access to a rapid response laboratory where we can validate and down-select potential MCM candidates quickly. This allows the JPEO-CBRND to protect our warfighters and our Nation when a swift response is needed in the face of unknown biothreats and gives the DOD agility to respond to known and unanticipated threats.”
This biodefense effort was led by the DOD’s JPEO-CBRND, a component of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program.
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About the JPEO-CBRND: The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) mission is to provide an integrated layered chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense capabilities to the joint force across combined Joint All-Domain Operations. JPEO-CBRND’s goal is to enable the joint force to fight and win unencumbered by a CBRN environment. To learn more about JPEO-CBRND, visit:
https://www.jpeocbrnd.osd.mil/, or follow JPEO-CBRND on social media @JPEOCBRND.