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WASHINGTON — Cities and states have been clamoring to play host to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health since before the agency existed — before, in fact, anyone truly knew what ARPA-H was.

But the lobbying campaign from universities, business leaders, members of Congress, and big-city mayors is finally over.

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The end came not with a dramatic reveal or a formal ribbon-cutting, but with a largely bureaucratic and anticlimactic announcement that the Biden administration plans to share the wealth. ARPA-H will be housed in a hub-and-spoke model across three major metro areas: The D.C. suburbs; Cambridge, Mass.; and Dallas. Additional “spokes,” the agency announced Tuesday, will be spread across the country at 10 sites spanning from Florida to Alaska.

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