CU Anschutz Secures $120 Million DARPA Award to Combat Severe Hemorrhage

The university will act as an independent validator for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s RAPIID program, which focuses on developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics for severe hemorrhage. Rather than testing a single product, the campus will evaluate up to 11 different technologies—ranging from oxygen carriers to advanced plasma products—against rigorous safety and performance benchmarks. This process is designed to filter out ineffective approaches while accelerating the most promising innovations toward FDA review and potential clinical use.

Vik Bebarta, chair of the CU Anschutz Department of Emergency Medicine, noted that the initiative targets the leading cause of preventable death following traumatic injury. By leveraging the campus's existing clinical trial infrastructure and the ATLAS Research Program, the team aims to provide DARPA with objective data to guide future investment. Beyond military applications, these breakthroughs are expected to address critical gaps in civilian care, including postpartum hemorrhage and bleeding during major surgeries, while potentially easing the strain on the nation's blood supply. The work will be conducted under a flexible federal agreement, allowing the scope to shift as new data emerges from laboratory and translational studies.