S. 1085 — MedShield Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need to better organize U.S. pathogen defense and that advancements from COVID-19, accelerated by artificial intelligence, should support a comprehensive biodefense program functioning as a "shield" against pathogens. The section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) a future Operation Warp Speed-like initiative should not be required; (2) a pandemic preparedness and response program is needed to avoid such initiatives or public health emergency declarations under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); and (3) the program established under section 3 operationalizes artificial intelligence and interagency-private sector system-of-systems integration under the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

This section establishes the MedShield program, a pandemic preparedness and response initiative to be implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services using artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies in accordance with recommendations of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The program operationalizes a national medical shield that gathers public-private innovations from the United States and allies to enhance delivery of medical solutions against biological threats and continuously monitors such threats to safeguard public health. Pursuant to the program, the Secretary must (1) develop a plan integrating the commission's recommendations consistent with the Department of Health and Human Services' role as lead for public health and medical services under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Response Framework; and (2) consult federal agencies and select international partners for coordinated integration. In implementing the program, the Secretary must leverage AI and related technologies to (1) develop and deploy a global pathogen surveillance system for real-time detection and tracking; (2) accelerate identification and development of vaccines; (3) develop and deploy therapeutics for affected individuals; (4) enable advanced modeling to optimize pathogen tracking, vaccine distribution, and therapeutic interventions; and (5) streamline rapid manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics.

This section directs the Secretary to submit to the Senate Committees on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Appropriations and the House Committees on Energy and Commerce and Appropriations, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, a report detailing the plan required under section 3(b). The report must be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.

This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including (1) artificial intelligence, as defined in section 1051(f) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (P.L. 115-232); (2) MedShield, as the term “BioShield” is defined in the final report of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence submitted under section 1051(c)(2) of such Act; and (3) National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, as the commission established under section 1051 of such Act.

This section authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for the MedShield program of $300 million for FY2025, $350 million for FY2026, $400 million for FY2027, $450 million for FY2028, and $500 million for FY2029, to remain available until expended.