New phase of ARPA-H funding will support preclinical and clinical validation of AI-identified repurposing opportunities, building on earlier work that has already yielded 10 active programs.
PHILADELPHIA – February 26, 2026 (Rare Disease Week) – Every Cure, a nonprofit on a mission to save and improve lives by repurposing existing medicines, announced that it has been selected to receive up to $76 million in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). This new three-year phase of funding, expected to begin in 2026, will support Every Cure in generating preclinical and clinical evidence to advance the most promising drug repurposing opportunities identified through its AI-powered MATRIX (ML/AI-enabled Therapeutic Repurposing In eXtended uses) platform toward patients who currently lack viable therapeutic options.
This next phase builds directly on the momentum of Every Cure’s initial ARPA-H-funded work, which supported the development of MATRIX. Unlike traditional drug development and repurposing efforts that typically focus on one drug or one disease at a time, MATRIX uses AI to systematically analyze the world’s biomedical knowledge and evaluate all FDA-approved drugs across all diseases, enabling the highest-impact repurposing opportunities to be identified for advancement. As a result of this approach, Every Cure is already advancing active repurposing programs, each endorsed by an independent Scientific Advisory Council.
“The initial investment from ARPA-H enabled Every Cure to build the powerful platform and processes needed to identify promising drug repurposing opportunities at scale,” said David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, Co-Founder and President of Every Cure. “This next phase will allow us to do the essential work of evaluating these potentially life-saving treatments in the lab and clinical trials, accelerating access to potential treatments for those who urgently need them.”
The new phase of ARPA-H funding will allow Every Cure to:
- Support preclinical studies for at least 20 prioritized drug repurposing opportunities to validate biological mechanisms and generate the evidence needed to justify clinical evaluation.
- Enable clinical trials for 10 promising, high-impact repurposing opportunities to rigorously evaluate safety and efficacy and enable progression toward widespread use.
Every Cure’s current portfolio spans ultra-rare conditions such as Bachmann-Bupp syndrome, which has been reported in only 20 patients worldwide, as well as more prevalent diseases with major unmet need, such as breast cancer. This additional funding represents a critical step toward translating Every Cure’s AI-driven discoveries into meaningful patient impact.
Established in 2022, ARPA-H is a federal agency designed to support high-potential, high-impact biomedical and health research that is not readily pursued through traditional research funding or commercial pathways. “Drug repurposing at this scale represents a fundamentally different way of approaching unmet medical need,” said Scott Gorman, ARPA-H Program Manager for MATRIX. “By combining artificial intelligence with rigorous preclinical and clinical validation, MATRIX is advancing a model that could dramatically expand treatment options for both rare and common diseases—precisely the kind of work ARPA-H exists to enable.”
“This phase is a significant step for Every Cure and patients,” said Matt Goddeeris, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Every Cure. “This allows us to experimentally evaluate, in the laboratory and the clinic, the most promising programs coming from our prediction models. Beyond improving our models, we have a great chance to impact people’s lives with these repurposing opportunities.”
Repurposing existing, approved drugs remains one of the fastest and most efficient ways to address diseases with limited or no treatment options. By systematically identifying and validating new uses for these medicines, Every Cure aims to shorten timelines, reduce costs, and deliver meaningful impact for patients across rare and more common conditions alike.
About Every Cure
Every Cure is a nonprofit biotech organization dedicated to saving and improving lives by repurposing drugs. Founded on pioneering drug repurposing research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, Every Cure uses advanced data science and AI-driven approaches to systematically evaluate all approved drugs against all diseases. This comprehensive strategy helps uncover the most promising and efficient opportunities for helping people—particularly those with rare, neglected, and underserved conditions. By accelerating drug repurposing, Every Cure aims to deliver safer, faster, and more affordable treatments to patients who currently have limited or no options. For more information, visit everycure.org.
