The Chemical & Biological Defense (CBD) SBIR program, overseen by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), supports innovative small businesses developing dual-use technologies that strengthen biodefense, force protection, medical readiness, and public-health resilience. CBD SBIR topics are closely aligned with CBRN mission gaps and may be informed by the operational needs of Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Medical CBRN Defense Consortium (MCDC), and Service-based medical enterprise programs. Rather than incremental R&D, CBD SBIR emphasizes deployable biosurveillance, rapid diagnostics, environmental detection, chemical sensing, threat modeling, medical countermeasure platforms, PPE improvement, and hazard-response technologies. 

Priority domains include: point-of-care diagnostics, syndromic surveillance algorithms, early-warning biosensors, rapid sample preparation tools, next-generation decontamination chemistries, aerosol or waterborne pathogen detection, field-deployable sequencing, infectious-disease analytics, novel PPE materials, force-protection medical monitoring, and decision-support software for bio-event assessment or environmental monitoring. Many topics emphasize ruggedization, low-power operation, manufacturability, cyber-secure data handling, and integration with defense logistics or command-and-control networks. 

Phase I CBD SBIR awards typically range from $150,000 to $250,000 and support feasibility studies—such as sample characterization, assay concept validation, algorithm modeling, benchtop experimentation, computational biosurveillance proofs, or system-level architecture design. Phase II awards generally range from $1,000,000 to $1,700,000 and focus on prototype development, biological characterization, manufacturability assessment, AI-based surveillance integration, field trials at government test sites, or regulatory alignment for medical countermeasure applications. Direct-to-Phase-II options may also exist for companies with validated prototype performance or commercial proof. 

CBD SBIR performers often require deep technical credibility in biology, chemistry, chemical analytics, materials science, environmental sensing, microelectronics, biomedical engineering, or computational biosurveillance. However, the CBD SBIR portfolio is highly open to innovative nontraditional firms, particularly those developing dual-use sensing, autonomous analytics, ruggedized IoT systems, mobile diagnostics, or secure cloud tools for laboratory or field testing. 

Eligibility mirrors standard SBIR rules: U.S.-owned for-profit small businesses under 500 employees, with at least 50% of work performed by the small business and the Principal Investigator primarily employed by the business. Universities, hospitals, medical labs, and federally funded research organizations may subcontract to provide BSL-compliant laboratory capacity, algorithmic modeling, regulatory insight, assay development, or test-range support. Projects involving select agents, export-controlled biological materials, or hazardous CBRN substances must comply with BSL requirements, safety standards, and DoD ethics/regulatory frameworks. 

CBD SBIR encourages early user engagement with CBRN program offices, government laboratories, or Service test centers to improve transition potential. The most competitive proposals emphasize mission relevance, ruggedization, manufacturability, deployment workflow fit, commercial viability, and dual-use scalability across healthcare, environmental monitoring, food safety, critical infrastructure protection, or emergency management. 

Example resources: 
JPEO-CBRND: https://www.jpeocbrnd.osd.mil 
DoD SBIR Portal: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil 

ScienceDocs Can Help 

ScienceDocs assists CBD SBIR applicants with technical proposal development, biosurveillance strategy writing, regulatory planning, prototype framing, and commercialization narratives tailored to defense and civilian deployment. If your small business is preparing a CBD SBIR submission or needs expert proposal development assistance, please begin the conversation at: https://www.sciencedocs.com/quotes