Self-evolving and Adapting Therapeutics (ADAPT) RFI, DARPA-SN-15-54

The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is requesting information on revolutionary ideas to radically change the existing paradigm for treating and controlling a variety of dynamic diseases and biological threats, such as rapidly mutating viruses, drug-resistant bacteria and evolving chronic pathologies and conditions. DARPA requests information on new research approaches and novel therapeutic paradigms targeting the mutating and evolving character of pathogens and/or the dynamic host response. Of particular interest are novel therapeutics engineered for "auto-adaptive" release, pathogen- or disease-triggered expression/activation, and/ or therapeutics that control disease spread by self-transmitting within an individual and through populations (e.g., through drug persistence, and person-to-person transmissibility). These adaptive therapies may address not only fast-evolving dynamic pathogens and diseases, but also individual variability of disease and host response by co-evolving control mechanisms, or adaptive targeted delivery and/or release based on individual dynamics (e.g., through optimal timing, continuous monitoring of host response while modulating immune components, or co-evolving control agents).  See Attachment for more information and submission details.