Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the medical component of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Biological Defense Research Program, operated by the Army's Medical Research and Development Command.

GAO found that: (1) the Army's lack of adequate internal controls resulted in its allocation of at least $47 million for 49 research projects that did not address validated biological warfare threat agents; (2) there was no requirement for the Army to search other federal research databases to prevent duplication of research efforts; (3) nearly one-third of the medical products that the Army developed for U.S. military forces did not address validated biological warfare threat agents; (4) between 1965 and 1990, the Army invested about $45 million in developing and producing 16 medical products, and spent over $19 million on 5 medical products that did not address validated threats; and (5) the Army continues to develop medical products that do not address validated threats.