Protean Proposers Day

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hosting a Proposers Day for the potential proposer community in support of a planned Research Announcement (RA) for the Protean program. The Protean program aims to develop medical countermeasures (MCMs) that provide complete protection against current and future chemical threats. The program seeks to completely mitigate the negative health impacts of chemical agent exposure in current and future battlefields. The Proposers Day will include brief overview presentations by government personnel, an information session to respond to questions from participants, and dedicated time for lightning talks by interested participants to share their research expertise/capabilities. • The Protean program will develop candidate MCMs that use non-classical mechanisms to preserve human protein function and prevent threat agent binding. • The program will focus on three specific threat classes: nerve agents, synthetic opioids, and ion channel toxins. • The Proposers Day will be held on February 20th, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM virtually. • Advance registration is required, and registration closes on February 17th, 2026, at 4:00 PM.