On Apr. 10, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it was spending over $5 billion on an effort to speed up the development of new COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

The investment, dubbed “Project NextGen” and first announced by White Housein an interview with the Washington Post, aims to provide better protection from coronaviruses, including the one that causes COVID-19, that might become future threats.

The project, set to be based at HHS, will coordinate across the government and with the private sector on advancing a pipeline of new vaccines and treatments. It will cover all phases of development from lab research and clinical trials to delivery.