The Biden administration announced Thursday that it is investing $3.2 billion in the discovery and development of antiviral drugs to treat not only COVID-19 but also other viruses with pandemic potential.

The initiative, called the Antiviral Program for Pandemics, is being funded through the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress in March.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, told reporters Thursday that few treatments currently exist for many of the viruses that could potentially lead to the next pandemic, including paramyxoviruses and bunyaviruses.

The ultimate goal of the new program is to have enough highly effective oral antivirals available that people can take at home early in the course of an infection, saving lives and preventing overwhelming surges at hospitals.

“Vaccines clearly remain the centerpiece of our arsenal against COVID-19,” Fauci said. “However, antivirals can and are an important complement to existing vaccines, especially for individuals with certain conditions that might put them at a greater risk (and) for those whom vaccines may not be as protective. … And it also adds a line of defense against other unexpected emerging things like variants of concern that we are currently dealing with.”

While the program looks beyond the current pandemic, COVID-19 and other coronaviruses remain a focus as well. 

“This pioneering work of American ingenuity and innovation is essential to our long-term response to the pandemic,” said Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

The program will bring together leading scientists from universities and private companies. It aims to accelerate the clinical testing of promising antiviral medicines already in development so that they potentially hit the market sooner. The discovery portion of the initiative is modeled after the program that led to the creation of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV, Fauci said.

The program dedicates $500 million for research and laboratory support, $1 billion for preclinical and clinical evaluation, $700 million for development and manufacturing, and another $1 billion to support the creation of collaborative drug discovery groups.