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Assay development and screening for discovery of chemical probes, drugs or immunomodulators (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Federal funding opportunity PAR-25-153 from National Institutes of Health (Department of Health and Human Services).

Apply on Grants.gov →Application closes September 7, 2026

Posted: November 6, 2024
Closes: September 7, 2026
Cost sharing: No
Instrument: Grant
Assistance listing: 93.395
Category: Education, Health
Archives: October 13, 2026

Program funding history

Awards made under Assistance Listing 93.395 across FY2024–FY2026, from public federal spending records.

FY2024 obligated: $1.1B
FY2025 obligated: $1.3B
FY2026 (to date) obligated: $825.6M
Awards in window: 4,065

Top recipients: The Univeristy of Texas M.d. Anderson Cancer Center, Dana-farber Cancer Institute, Inc., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Sloan-kettering Institute for Cancer Research

Source: USAspending.gov · refreshed August 2026

Synopsis

Through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) solicits applications for identification of small molecules that function to elucidate the biology of disease as chemical probes or function as agonists or antagonists of disease target(s) for therapy or immunotherapy. The NOFO is intended to support discovery research for the identification of validated hits relevant to health-related outcomes of participating NIH Institutes. Stages of discovery research covered by this NOFO include: 1) assay development for specific biological targets and disease mechanisms relevant to the mission of participating NIH Institutes with the intent to screen for small molecule compounds that show potential as probes for use in advancing knowledge about the known targets, identifying new targets, or as pre-therapeutic leads; 2) screen implementation high throughput target-focused approaches or moderate throughput phenotypic- and fragment-based approaches to identify initial screening hits; 3) hit validation, including implementation of secondary assays that are orthogonal to the primary assay, advanced cheminformatics analysis and initial medicinal chemistry inspection to prioritize the hit set, and follow-up assays to characterize mode and mechanism of action of the validated hits; 4) hit-to-lead optimization, including SAR to optimize target engagement, selectivity and to minimize chemical liabilities, ADME, PK and PD studies, and, if appropriate, in vivo modeling to test efficacy or biological effects.

Who can apply

Special district governments
Small businesses
Private institutions of higher education
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
State governments
Independent school districts
Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
County governments
For profit organizations other than small businesses
City or township governments
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Other Eligible Applicants include the following: Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs); Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government; Faith-based or Community-based Organizations; Hispanic-serving Institutions; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized); Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Organizations); Regional Organizations; Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) ; U.S. Territory or Possession.

How to apply

Applications go through the official government listing. Grants Radar links you straight to the source — applying is free.

View on Grants.gov Full announcement

Agency contact: National Institutes of Health · [email protected] · 301-402-2541

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