New BIRD Health Act Authorizes $10M Annually for U.S.-Israel Digital Health and Vaccine R&D

The new United States-Israel Bilateral Innovation for Research and Development in Health Act of 2025, mercifully nicknamed the BIRD Health Act, is setting up a new pipeline for health tech innovation. This bill establishes the BIRD Health Program, a dedicated cooperative effort between the U.S. and Israel, specifically targeting healthcare products and services. Starting in fiscal year 2026 and running through 2032, Congress is authorizing $10 million annually for this program, which will be managed by the existing Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation.

The R&D Fast Lane: What Gets Funded

Think of this as a focused investment in the future of medicine, managed by the friend who knows how to make things happen—the BIRD Foundation, which has a long track record of successful joint ventures. The goal is to get U.S. and Israeli companies, universities, and research groups working together on everything from new medical devices and pharmaceuticals to advanced digital health solutions (SEC. 3). For you, the person who just wants better, cheaper, and faster healthcare, this funding is aimed squarely at the things that impact your life: making biological products (like certain drugs or vaccines) more efficiently to lower costs, improving telemedicine infrastructure, and developing better ways to fight infectious diseases (SEC. 3).

Building a Better Supply Chain

One of the most concrete impacts of this bill is its focus on manufacturing resilience. Remember the scramble for supplies during the pandemic? This bill explicitly funds efforts to establish joint manufacturing facilities in the U.S. that leverage expertise from both nations (SEC. 3). This isn't just about sharing ideas; it’s about making sure the supply chain for critical, life-saving treatments is robust and has built-in backup plans if disruptions happen. For everyday people, this means potentially less risk of shortages for important medications or medical tools down the line.

The Digital Health Catch

Digital health and telemedicine are major focus areas. The bill aims to improve the interoperability of U.S. and Israeli health systems—meaning their data systems can actually talk to each other—and collaborate on data analytics and cybersecurity for digital health (SEC. 3). However, this is where a tricky detail pops up: the program includes funding for creating a system to share health data for research purposes with the Israeli Ministry of Health (SEC. 3). While the bill mentions strong cybersecurity and patient privacy, any cross-border health data sharing needs incredibly robust safeguards. It’s a necessary step for advanced research, but the specifics of how they protect your private health information when it crosses international lines will be the critical fine print to watch.

The Selection Process: Who Gets the Money?

When deciding which projects get a piece of that $10 million annual budget, the selection committee—jointly governed by U.S. and Israeli health officials—will look at several factors. Beyond technical merit, they prioritize a project’s “potential for commercial success and economic impact” and its relevance to the health priorities of both governments (SEC. 3). This selection criteria is a bit vague. While commercial viability is important for getting products to market quickly, the subjectivity involved in judging “economic impact” gives the selection panel a lot of discretion. Hopefully, this doesn't mean smaller, riskier, but potentially revolutionary ideas get sidelined in favor of safer bets from established companies. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to report to Congress annually on the program’s progress and economic benefits, with the first report due one year after the bill is signed (SEC. 5). This reporting will be key to understanding if the money is being spent effectively to benefit patients and the U.S. health system.