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Creates a new NIH "X‑Labs Initiative" to give large, long‑term institutional awards and smaller planning awards to support breakthrough biomedical research and to buy research equipment and facilities. Awards are competitive, come in four categories (large basic science, large resource development, large regranting nonprofit awards, and smaller planning/start‑up awards), carry multi‑year budgets, and include reporting and periodic program evaluations. Recipients of the three large award types would receive $5M–$50M per year for seven years (with a one‑time optional renewal up to seven more years) and would be barred from receiving other federal research grants during the award period; planning awards are $1M–$5M per year for 1–3 years and are nonrenewable. The NIH Director must set up and run the program, may use other transactions authorities to implement it, and must report and evaluate the initiative on set timelines. Funding is authorized for FY2026–FY2031 as needed.
This bill directs large, flexible, long-term funding toward potentially transformative biomedical research and new institutions while concentrating taxpayer dollars in select recipients and restricting their access to other federal grants, posing trade-offs between accelerating high‑risk/high‑reward research and risks to equity, peer‑review transparency, and budget certainty.
Researchers and research institutions can receive new large, long-term awards ($5M–$50M per year for 7 years, with possible 7-year renewal) and smaller planning/start-up awards ($1M–$5M per year for 1–3 years) to pursue breakthrough biomedical projects and create new research institutions.
XL03 regranting channels funds to U.S.-based teams that are unlikely to get traditional NIH grants, expanding support for unconventional, early-stage, or underfunded ideas and investigators.
Allowing use of other transactions authority gives NIH greater flexibility to structure novel awards and public–private partnerships quickly, which can accelerate nontraditional collaborations and procurement for ambitious projects.
Recipients of XL01/XL02/XL03 awards are barred from receiving other federal research grants (except training grants) during the award period, limiting institutional revenue streams and the ability of institutions to diversify funding.
Large, long-term awards concentrate substantial taxpayer funds in a small number of selected institutions ($5M–$50M per year each), which may reduce funding available for other NIH grants or investigators.
Restrictions and concentrated funding could create or exacerbate inequities in federal research support, disadvantaging broader investigator communities including early-career researchers and students.
Introduced December 10, 2025 by Josh Harder · Last progress December 10, 2025