Luminary Labs awarded BARDA contract to launch Project NextGen vaccine innovation prize competitions

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Oct 13, 2023, 11:24 ET

$100 million, five-year initiative targets improved vaccine technologies through prize competitions.

NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Luminary Labs, a leader in accelerating innovation on behalf of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, today announced its partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Luminary Labs will design, promote, and administer two prize competitions in support of Project NextGen's goal to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and enabling technologies.

The two international prize competitions will focus on:

Catalyzing the development of patch-based vaccine delivery technologies with an emphasis on the collection of clinical evidence with a path toward regulatory approval and commercialization. The prize competition is expected to launch in 2024, with up to $50 million in prizes.
Reducing the number of doses needed to achieve an effective immune response against a novel coronavirus or pandemic influenza. Current vaccination strategies for novel viruses typically require two doses for full protection. The prize competition is expected to launch in 2026, with up to $41 million in prizes.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic transitions out of an emergency phase, there is an opportunity to assess alternative vaccine technologies for improved pandemic responses in the future," said Luminary Labs CEO Sara Holoubek. "We are honored to partner with BARDA to reimagine vaccine delivery technology and help our nation prepare for known and unknown threats."

In addition to providing strategy and innovation consulting services to the private and nonprofit sectors, Luminary Labs has more than a decade of experience designing and producing large-scale open innovation programs that have helped federal agencies, corporations, and foundations accelerate effective, scalable solutions. Through a contract with NASA, Luminary Labs has designed and produced prize competitions on behalf of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Through separate contact vehicles, the company has provided similar services to the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Engagements across Luminary Labs' future of health portfolio have helped life sciences and health clients rethink what's possible by identifying where business priorities, emerging technologies, and customer needs meet.

This project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under OT number 75A50123C00059.

About Luminary Labs
Luminary Labs is a New York City-based strategy and innovation consultancy established in 2009. The company's work covers a broad cross section of topics across four focus areas — the future of work and education, the future of health, scientific discovery, and infrastructure — on behalf of Fortune 500, government, and nonprofit clients. Luminary Labs is a certified woman-owned small business.

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SOURCE Luminary Labs