H.R. 4473 — BIRD Health Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings regarding the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD Foundation), including its establishment in 1977 as a U.S.-Israel initiative that has approved over 1,000 projects with over $500 million invested, generating over $10 billion in sales; the focus of approximately 30% of projects in the past decade on health, biotechnology, life sciences, medical devices, diagnostics, and telemedicine; expansions into energy, cyber, and homeland security programs; a January 4, 2016, U.S.-Israel health, medical, and scientific cooperation agreement; and the allocation of $2 million in 2020 for bilateral health technology development.

This section establishes the BIRD Health Program (i.e., a bilateral U.S.-Israel research and innovation initiative) through a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S.-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, to advance collaboration on developing and delivering healthcare products and services. The program, administered by the BIRD Foundation using the model of existing U.S.-Israel collaborations in energy, cyber, and homeland security, is jointly governed by the Department of Health and Human Services and Israel's Ministry of Health, which define focus areas and select projects based on criteria including technical merit, commercial potential, relevance to health priorities, partnership strength, and potential to address unmet medical needs. Program goals include facilitating joint research and development between U.S. and Israeli institutions, companies, and academics; supporting commercialization of innovations in areas such as medical devices and diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and biological products, genomics and personalized medicine, telemedicine and digital health technologies, artificial intelligence for healthcare, infectious disease prevention, vaccine development, and epidemiological research; and strengthening health-related ecosystems through U.S.-Israel partnerships. The program provides funding for (1) research and development, including joint projects, collaborations on medical devices, pharmaceuticals, digital health, biological product innovation and manufacturing, and a framework for sharing health data with Israel's Ministry of Health; (2) innovation and startup ecosystems to foster company collaborations, technology transfer, joint ventures, and innovation hubs (with emphasis on cybersecurity, patient privacy, and research); (3) health care system strengthening through sharing best practices in clinical care and management; (4) telemedicine and digital health cooperation to enhance infrastructure, interoperability, data analytics, and cybersecurity; (5) disease prevention initiatives for infectious diseases, vaccines, and epidemiological data sharing; and (6) biological product manufacturing, including joint U.S.-based facilities, accelerated development of treatments and nutrition sources, and supply chain resilience plans.

This section (1) authorizes appropriations of $10 million to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for each of FY2026 through 2032 to carry out the Act, (2) requires administration of such funds through the BIRD Foundation subject to the cooperative agreement under section 3(a)(1) and with oversight by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Commerce, (3) directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to Congress, not later than 180 days after enactment, a report on progress in establishing the program framework, and (4) requires the BIRD Health Program to begin accepting proposals and allocating funds for eligible projects not later than one year after establishment of the program framework.

This section requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to Congress (1) an annual report, beginning one year after enactment, detailing the establishment and implementation of the BIRD Health Program, progress and impacts of funded projects on healthcare innovation, economic and scientific benefits of U.S.-Israel collaborations, and policy recommendations to enhance the program; and (2) a comprehensive review of the program's success every three years, with recommendations for renewal or expansion.