Government Shutdown Resource Center
As we continue to navigate the federal government shutdown, we’ve gathered a list of resources below that can answer member questions. If you have any specific issues or questions, please contact Lara Flynn (lflynn@lifesciencespa.org) Senior Director of Federal Policy & Public Affairs.
Department of Health and Human Services - Staffing Plan
This information describes the HHS approach to continuing operations during a lapse. This includes information about staff who will continue work as funded through prior year appropriations, mandatory appropriations, and user fees or other reimbursements of non-lapsed appropriations.
ARPA-H Announces Poseidon - A Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology
Just hours prior to the Federal Government shutdown, LSPA Member Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh was named to the R&D team to develop cancer screening kits for at-home use. This new initiative The Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology ( POSEIDON) with support from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer Screening Research Network has the potential to dramatically change how, when and why individuals test for cancer as early detection saves lives.
Commissioner's National Priority Voucher Pilot Program
The new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Pilot Program (CNPV) process accelerates the standard 10-12 month timeline by convening a multidisciplinary team of physicians and scientists for a team-based review, interacting frequently with the sponsor to clarify questions, and completing review of the application concurrently. Once all streamlined review steps are complete, the team will convene for a 1-day “tumor board style” meeting. Each drug review division within the FDA has been charged with nominating a product that they believe meets the stated national priority goals of the program.
NIH Grants and Funding Information Status
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted. If you are an NIH recipient or applicant looking for guidance, see Guide Notice NOT-OD-26-004. The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov. Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.
FDA FY 2026 Lapse in Funding Information
In the absence of either an FY 2026 appropriation or a Continuing Resolution for FDA, beginning on October 1, 2025 and continuing until the date of enactment of an FY 2026 appropriation or Continuing Resolution (“lapse period”), agency operations continue to the extent permitted by law, such as activities necessary to address imminent threats to the safety of human life and activities funded by carryover user fee funds.
During the lapse period, the agency will be continuing vital activities, to the extent permitted by the law, that are critical to ensuring public health and safety in the United States. The mission critical, public health activities that will continue include, among other things: maintaining core functions to handle and respond to emergencies – such as monitoring for and quickly responding to outbreaks related to foodborne illness and the flu, supporting high-risk food and medical product recalls when products endanger consumers and patients, pursuing civil investigations when we believe public health is imminently at risk and pursuing criminal investigations, screening the food and medical products that are imported to the U.S. to protect consumers and patients from harmful products, and addressing other critical public health issues that involve imminent threats to the safety of human life.
More information can be found here: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-fy-2026-lapse-funding-information
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Life Sciences Pennsylvania was founded in 1989 by a biotech scientist at Penn State University. Today it has grown to represent the entire life sciences industry – medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, investment organizations, research institutions, and myriad service industries that support the life sciences in Pennsylvania.