DARPA-SN-27-01.pdf

DARPA-SN-27-01

Special Notice Protein Palace Proposers Day

DARPA-SN-27-01

October 22, 2026

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Multi X Office 675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114

Proposers Day Special Notice DARPA-SN-27-01

Protein Palace Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Multi X Office (MXO)

Posting Date: October 22, 2026 Event Date: November 17, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) Registration Deadline: November 9, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) Location: Executive Conference Center, 4075 Wilson Blvd Ste 300, Arlington, VA 22203 Registration Website: Website Link Technical POC: Dr. Huanan Zhang, MXO Program Manager E-mail: DARPA-SN-27-01@darpa.mil

PROPOSERS DAY DESCRIPTION:

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will host an in-person Proposers Day in support of the Protein Palace program on November 17, 2026, at the Executive Conference Center, 4075 Wilson Blvd Ste 300, Arlington, VA 22203, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. DARPA anticipates releasing the Protein Palace solicitation prior to Proposers Day. If released, the Protein Palace solicitation will be made available at https://sam.gov/.

The goals of the Proposers Day are:

(1) To introduce the science and technology community (industry, academia, and government) to the

Protein Palace program vision and goals;

(2) To facilitate interaction between researchers with capabilities and interests relevant to the

Protein Palace program goals;

(3) To collect questions during the event that DARPA may answer and make available in a Question and

Answer document maintained at https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/protein-palace and

(4) To encourage and promote teaming arrangements among organizations that have the relevant expertise, research facilities, and capabilities for executing research and development responsive to the Protein Palace program goals.

The Proposers Day will include overview presentations by government personnel and opportunities for team building among the participants. It is anticipated that recording of the Proposers Day and materials will be posted online at https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/protein-palace.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION:

The objective of the Protein Palace program is to enable the rapid purification of virtually any protein with high specificity, purity, and yield. To achieve this goal, Protein Palace will break the traditional tradeoff between generalizability and specificity by leveraging dynamic chemical and physical approaches that probe the physicochemical variations of a protein rather than relying on its bulk surface properties or rigid, predefined binding pockets and affinity tags. By establishing a universal, generalizable protein purification platform, Protein Palace could accelerate the production, scale-up, and accessibility of mission-critical and high-value biomacromolecules beyond biological therapeutics by reducing one of the most expensive and time-consuming bottlenecks in modern biomanufacturing.

The current state of the art (SoA) for protein purification is highly specific, relying on a lock-and-key, one protein, one ligand paradigm for product capture that involves several other steps to remove impurities and host proteins from the mixture. The development of downstream processing methods can be lengthy with no guarantee of success. The Department of War (DoW) requires timely access to proteins for current and emerging applications. Conventional biochemical purification design assumes there is no universal means of protein purification today because of our inability to create highly specific and tunable systems for molecular separation. Previous DARPA programs have invested in improved methods for protein synthesis and novel use cases for proteins in DoW applications. Protein Palace focuses on protein purification as applications for proteins require them to be at high purity, while maintaining bioactivity.

To significantly improve protein purification methods, Protein Palace will address the lack of agility in the SoA and solve the challenge of purifying multiple proteins from a single tunable system while achieving high purity and yield. The Protein Palace program is interested in novel approaches to separate proteins, beyond fixed lock-and-key and non-specific physiochemical methods, that target the unique physicochemical characteristics of a protein, leveraging the subtle heterogeneities of different proteins and providing multiple new design tools. The program addresses the technical challenge of specific separation of a target protein at high purity by a method that can be tuned to purify any other protein. Performers will propose a panel of proteins representing a wide range of structures and functions, as well as their applicability to the DoW. The protein used for an initial demonstration of their approach will be defined by DARPA to enable evaluation by the independent verification and validation (IV&V) team using a common starting feedstock. In Phase 1, performers will demonstrate their purification process across a range of protein categories at a purity and yield similar to the SoA. In Phase 2, performers will be required to scale their process to yield relevant quantities of target proteins and to purify two proteins that cannot be separated using the SoA methods.

The Protein Palace program will consist of a 24-month Phase 1 and an 18-month Phase 2. The main objectives of the two phases are:

• Phase 1: Specificity and generalizability. Prove the feasibility to control tunability and specificity to different types of proteins.

• Phase 2: Scalability and throughput. Prove the scalability for high throughput and diverse proteins.

In Phase 1, performers will demonstrate a purification platform and process capable of separating eight different proteins to demonstrate simultaneous specificity and generalizability at small scale. In Phase 2, performers will develop and deliver a scaled-up purification platform capable of increased purity, yield, volume, and throughput. This Phase 2 platform should also be demonstrated on two additional difficult- to-purify proteins.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

In-person registration is limited by the venue capacity (maximum of 100 attendees); early registration is strongly recommended. The determination of maximum participants per organization and what constitutes an organization will be made by the DARPA Program Manager. Registrations will be cut off at the registration deadline listed above or once attendance capacity is met, whichever comes first. Any change to the registration deadline will be captured via an amendment to this notice and an update to the registration website.

The Proposers Day is open only to registered potential proposers. The event is closed to the general public and media. The agenda and meeting details will be emailed to approved attendees NLT November 12, 2026.

A completed DARPA Form 104 must be filled out by all in-person attendees. For additional information and link to the latest DARPA Form 104, please refer to the Visitor Information page on the DARPA website (http://www.darpa.mil/policy/visitor-information).

Additionally, all meeting registrants who are not U.S. Citizens must complete and submit one of the following:

• All U.S. Permanent Residents and Foreign Nationals not representing a foreign government must submit a DARPA Form 60 “U.S. Permanent Resident and Foreign National Visit Request”, which must be submitted via the registration link above.

• Foreign government personnel who are representing a foreign government in an official capacity must submit an official Foreign Visit Request (FVR) via their respective Embassy based in Washington, DC.

All forms must be submitted no later than November 9, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. ET. Failure to complete and submit the required forms prior to the date and time noted above may result in the cancellation of existing registration.

This meeting will be held at the unclassified level. All attendees are required to present government-issued photo identification upon entry to the event.

TEAMING:

While not required, DARPA is open to teaming amongst the community as appropriate and when strategic to achieve program outcomes. To facilitate the building of teams, Proposers Day registrants may choose to participate in the options below:

1. Attendee List: Participant contact information (name, organization, email address) will be included on a Protein Palace Proposers Day attendee list distributed to other prospective proposers. Registrants may indicate during registration whether they approve publication of their contact information.

2. Requests Through Email: Prospective proposers can also request the attendee list and/or the prospective proposer profile list through email at DARPA-SN-27-01@darpa.mil. All email requests must be received by November 20, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. ET and follow the same security requirements as Proposers Day attendees (e.g., government photo ID and DARPA Form 60 or FVR requirements). It is incumbent on email requesters to ensure all provided information is accurate.

DARPA will not provide access to secure data transfer capabilities (e.g., DoD SAFE), and DARPA reserves the right to deny requests stemming from its vetting of requesters’ security documentation.

POSTERS:

A poster session will be held to facilitate interaction among attendees and to give an opportunity to showcase capabilities and build strong teams to solve the challenge presented in Protein Palace. No template for the poster will be provided; however, posters should highlight proposer capabilities and teaming requirements and must include presenter’s contact information. Posters should not contain any Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or classified information and must be suitable for unlimited public release.

There is a limit of one poster per organization, and posters should be no larger than 24 by 36 inches.

Registrants must request to participate in the poster session by emailing DARPA-SN-27- 01@darpa.mil with “Poster Session” in the subject. Poster presentations will be limited to the first 10 requests due to time constraints, but for any prospective proposer who conveys interest in participating in the poster session after the limit has been reached by the deadline specified in this notice, that prospective proposer’s poster (along with those of the 10 presenters) will be distributed to all other confirmed Proposers Day attendees.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS:

One-on-one breakout sessions with the Protein Palace Program Manager will be available during the Proposers Day. Advance registration is required. Breakout sessions will be scheduled in 15-minute intervals from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. To request a session, please email DARPA-SN-27-01@darpa.mil with “One-on-one” in the subject. In the email please indicate your discussion topic and participating attendees (no more than two). Please note that all members participating in the breakout sessions must be successfully registered in order to attend. Requests submitted do not guarantee selection for an individual session. All registered attendees chosen to participate in breakout sessions will receive notification containing their selection, scheduled time and location, and detailed guidance on or before November 13, 2026.

STAY CONNECTED:

Subscribe to DARPA MXO’s newsletter for timely updates on research opportunities, upcoming events, ways to work with us, and more.

DARPACONNECT:

Entities who have not worked with DARPA before are encouraged to learn more about DARPAConnect, an initiative established to facilitate collaboration between DARPA and potential performers. The DARPAConnect team offers customized support, resources, and guidance on how to prepare ideas for high-impact conversations with DARPA program managers. Please visit DARPAConnect.us to access a digital hub of online resources, including a curriculum for self-paced learning, personalized support, and in-person and virtual events. To prepare for the Proposers Day, attendees can leverage the learning module on “Making the Most of a DARPA Proposers Day.” In addition to the self-paced online materials, the DARPAConnect team is able to schedule one-on-one conversations to discuss specific ideas, questions, and paths to DARPA. Use the contact form at DARPAConnect.us or email the DARPAConnect team directly at darpaconnect@darpa.mil to request assistance.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

All administrative and technical questions should be directed to DARPA-SN-27-01@darpa.mil. Please refer to the Special Notice number (DARPA-SN-27-01) in all correspondence.

This Special Notice is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or proposal abstracts; any so sent will be disregarded. Responses to this Special Notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

Attendance is strictly voluntary and is not required to propose to subsequent Announcements (if any) or Solicitations (if any) on this topic. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this Special Notice. Respondents are advised that DARPA is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of any information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this Special Notice.