Internal directives at NIAID instructed staff to remove the terms “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness” from public materials as the institute refocuses funding toward basic immunology and infectious diseases currently affecting the U.S., according to reporting in Nature. NIH leadership described the move as a strategic reallocation of priorities away from predictive biodefense efforts. Separately, the Pentagon briefly listed then withdrew WuXi AppTec from a registry of firms said to aid the Chinese military, a development that highlights intensifying geopolitical scrutiny of biotech contractors and supply-chain partners. The two items together signal a near-term shift in U.S. policy emphasis — from broad biodefense surveillance toward domestic research priorities — and add regulatory and geopolitical uncertainty for companies engaged in global product development and manufacturing.