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Therapeutics Discovery Funding Information

In May 2012, NIH launched the Therapeutics Discovery pilot program to match researchers with a selection of agents from industry to test ideas for new therapeutic uses. In Fiscal Year 2013, NCATS will provide up to $20 million for this program to fund two- to three-year staged, cooperative agreement research grants. If specific milestones are met, funded researchers will conduct pre-clinical validation and clinical feasibility studies in the first stage, and proof-of-concept clinical trials in the second stage. Some applications may request two-year support for proof-of-concept studies only.  

To solicit public input on the new program, NIH issued a Notice of Intent and a Request for Information. (See feedback on the RFI.) NIH issued three related funding announcements. The announcements encourage U.S. investigators to submit short applications about how they would explore specific hypotheses about how an agent available through the pilot might be useful in a specific disease area. View the library of agents.

Funding Announcements

These funding announcements include details on the application process, eligibility and associated timelines:

NOT-TR-12-010: Technical Assistance Webinar for the NIH-Industry Pilot Program: Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules Limited Competition RFA-TR-12-004 (UH2/UH3) and RFA-TR-12-005 (UH3)

NOT-TR-12-008: Clarification for the NIH-Industry Pilot Program: Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules

PAR-12-203: A Pre-application for the NIH-Industry Pilot Program:  Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules (X02)

RFA-TR-12-004: Limited Competition for NIH-Industry Pilot Program:  Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules (UH2/UH3)

RFA-TR-12-005: Limited Competition for NIH-Industry Pilot Program:  Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules (UH3)

How to Apply

The Therapeutics Discovery program is open to academia, nonprofits, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and  government — although intramural NIH investigators must secure funding from their institute.

Interested U.S. investigators may apply to the pilot program by submitting a pre-application (X02) electronically via Grants.gov that will undergo review by a panel of external experts. Successful applicants will be notified that they may submit a UH2/UH3 or UH3 application. Applicants then can sign non-disclosure and collaborative research agreements with the industry collaborator to obtain detailed information about the specific compound of interest in order to develop a full application.

Full applications then will undergo review by a panel of external experts. Funding selections will follow, and cooperative agreement research grants will be awarded by summer 2013.

Related Links

Contact

For more information about this program, contact Christine Colvis or Bonnie Dunn. For application-related questions, contact GrantsInfo. To discuss disease-specific questions, contact the trans-NIH therapeutics discovery team.


Frequently Asked Questions


Technical Assistance Webinar

NCATS held a Therapeutics Discovery technical assistance webinar on Monday, June 25, 2012. Download the slides from this event.