DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE - CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED MEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 23, 2015

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program
Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15)

The FY15 Defense Appropriations Act provides $7.5 million (M) to the Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program (ALSRP) to support innovative, high-impact Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis research. As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency, Research, Development, and Acquisition (DHA RDA) Directorate manages and executes the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The executing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The ALSRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop applications. FY15 ALSRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in April 2015. Pre-application and application deadlines will be available when the Program Announcements are released. This pre-announcement should not be construed as an obligation by the government.

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Therapeutic Development Award Independent investigators at all academic levels
  • Pre-application is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports post-discovery, preclinical development of therapeutics for ALS
  • Types of efforts that will be supported include:
    • Development of pharmacological agents up to IND submission
    • Demonstration of target selectivity and mechanism of action, optimization of potency and pharmacology, studies of formulation, stability and production methods based on Good Manufacturing Practices.
    • Development of biomarkers to confirm action on specific molecular targets or biomarkers of clinical progress
  • Preliminary data relevant to the phase of preclinical development are required.
  • Clinical trials are not allowed under this mechanism
  • New for FY15: Does not support screening, or development of screens or models.
  • Maximum funding of $1,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • New for FY15: Maximum period of performance is 2 years
Therapeutic Idea Award Independent investigators at all academic levels
  • Pre-application is required; application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports hypothesis-driven drug and drug target discovery efforts focused on ALS therapeutics.
  • Studies should focus on discovery of novel drug targets and discovery of drugs based on novel targets or modes of action.
  • Innovation and impact are primary criteria.
  • Preliminary data are not required.
  • New for FY15: Supports development, validation and use of novel of high-throughput screens and model systems based on novel targets or innovative drug systems.
  • Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years

All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions that will be available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website. The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov. A listing of all USAMRMC funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the CDMRP electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) (https://eBRAP.org) prior to the pre-application deadline. Applications must be submitted through the federal government's single-entry portal, Grants.gov. Submission deadlines are not available until the Program Announcements are released. Requests for email notification of the Program Announcements release may be sent to help@eBRAP.org. Email notifications of funding opportunities are sent as a courtesy and should not be used as a sole source of notification; applicants should monitor Grants.gov for official postings of funding opportunities.

For more information about the ALSRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.health.mil).

Point of Contact:

CDMRP Public Affairs
301-619-9783
usarmy.detrick.medcom-cdmrp.mbx.cdmrp-public-affairs@mail.mil