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.
Response Date	Sep 07, 2026 12:00:00 AM EDT
Posting Date	Nov 06, 2024 12:00:00 AM EST
Archive Date	Oct 13, 2026 12:00:00 AM EDT
Award Ceiling	N/a
Award Floor	N/a
Cost Sharing	No

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

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

Additional Info on Eligibility:

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.

Additional Information

Agency Name	National Institutes of Health
Link to Additional Information:	https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-25-153.html
Grantor Contact Information:	If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact: GrantSolutions Help Desk Phone: 301-402-2541

CFDA Program(s)

• 93.395: Cancer Treatment Research