HHS PHEMCE Strategy and HHS PHEMCE Implementation Plan

Medical Countermeasures Preparedness for CBRN Threats: A Two-Stage Approach

As part of efforts to address the public health threat from CBRN agents, HHS, through the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE), is undertaking a two-stage approach to the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures for these threats.

The PHEMCE Strategy

The first stage is the development of the HHS Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) Strategy for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Threats.  The purpose of the HHS PHEMCE Strategy is to establish the goals and objectives that HHS will use to ensure that medical countermeasures are available for effective use against the highest priority CBRN threats facing the Nation. The HHS PHEMCE Strategy considers the full spectrum of medical countermeasure-related activities, including research, development, acquisition, storage and maintenance, deployment, and utilization.  The draft PHEMCE Strategy was published for public comment in the Federal Register on September 8, 2006. The final version of the PHEMCE Strategy reflects comments received through the Federal Register as well as critical input gained at the BioShield Stakeholders Workshop held September 25-26, 2006.  The final PHEMCE Strategy was published in the Federal Register on March 20, 2007.

The National Strategy for Medical Countermeasures against Weapons of Mass Destruction and the HHS PHEMCE Strategy outline the principles and processes for identifying priority threat areas and requirements for medical countermeasure development and acquisition, including those medical countermeasures to be developed or acquired under the authorities of the Project BioShield Act of 2004 (“Project BioShield”) (P.L.. 108-276) or under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (P.L. 109-417).  Medical Countermeasures against Weapons of Mass Destruction and the HHS PHEMCE Strategy set forth the overall roles and responsibilities of key government agencies contributing to this effort. 

The PHEMCE Implementation Plan

The second stage is the HHS PHEMCE Implementation Plan for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Threats.  The HHS PHEMCE Implementation Plan is prioritized plan with near-term (FY07-08), mid-term (FY09-13) and long-term (FY14-23) goals for research, development, and acquisition of medical countermeasures that is consistent with the guiding principles and priority setting criteria defined in the HHS PHEMCE Strategy.  The HHS PHEMCE Implementation Plan is supported by a number of HHS funding streams, including NIH biodefense research and development, advanced development monies, Strategic National Stockpile resources and the Special Reserve Fund authorized under Project BioShield. 

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