Request for Applications: Drug Discovery Initiative Program

Proposals are expected to be short and concentrated on obtaining key preliminary data needed to quickly advance to the next step of drug discovery.

Categories

• Specifically, applications must fall into one the following two categories:
  • Support early-stage testing of therapeutic compounds for the treatment of NF: Shelved compounds (compounds having successfully undergone clinical testing but not being actively developed further despite this) will be prioritized. For compounds against a specific target (where multiple compounds exist), a strong rationale, also based on safety data, must be provided upon submission.
  • Support the validation of a novel NF target: Targets may have been described as potentially relevant in NF or may be de novo. To that end, they encourage the mining of existing publicly available datasets. Target validation experiments should not be limited to the testing of compounds of limited or unknown specificity and should include target engagement experiments using direct biochemical methods or genetic interactions.

Funding Information

• The DDI program provides funding for up to two years with a $200,000 budget overall. In order to proceed to the second year of funding, clear milestones (approved at initiation) must be met and data reviewed.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants should have an MD or PhD or an equivalent degree from a recognized US or non-US institution.
• As the DDI program offers only seed funding, applicants are expected to have already established in their laboratory, or have identified collaborators with, all required resources including in vivo and in vitro models.
• There is no citizenship requirement. Applications are welcome from all qualified individuals worldwide.
• Applications are welcome from both academic and private sectors.
• Recipients of past or current DDI grants can plan to submit a new proposal or request an extension of their current study only for a maximum of 2 consecutive cycles.
• New submissions from current or past grantees are welcome at every DDI cycle. Current grantees can request a maximum 1 year extension of their grant following the same guidelines. Existing grants timelines cannot overlap with new grant request timelines. Grant extensions submissions will be reviewed, scored, and recommended for funding together with all the other submissions for that cycle.

Review Criteria

• All applications will be reviewed by the CTF DDI Program Committee, a panel of external reviewers, and patient reviewers where necessary. A statistical review of the experimental protocol will be included for all applications. Reviewers will consider, in order of importance:
  • Impact of proposed research
  • Feasibility of proposed research
  • Transparency/soundness of experimental protocol
  • Alignment of budget
  • Applicant qualifications
  • Clinical translatability of drug or model
  • Open science/data sharing readiness

For more information, visit CTF.