NIH Releases Draft Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards for Public Comment

Today, NIH has issued a request for public comment on its Draft Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards(Biosafety Policy).

In September 2025, NIH announced its intention to strengthen and modernize biosafety oversight. Since then, NIH has extensively engaged stakeholders to inform the development of a new oversight paradigm better calibrated to risk.  

NIH invites stakeholders to provide feedback on the Draft Biosafety Policy as well as the associated Draft Incident Reporting Template, and Draft Meeting Minutes Template. Comments must be submitted though the online portal found at: https://osp.od.nih.gov/comment-form-draft-nih-biosafety-policy-for-research-involving-biohazards and will be accepted until October 19, 2026.

To further assist stakeholders in interpreting the Draft Biosafety Policy, NIH has also developed a summary table of proposed changes. 

Questions may be sent to [email protected].  

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