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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

NEWS RELEASE

Released: February 20, 2018

Defense Health Program
Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program
Anticipated Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18)

Although funds have not been appropriated for the Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program (ALSRP), the ALSRP is providing the information in this pre-announcement to allow investigators time to plan and develop ideas for submission to the anticipated FY18 funding opportunities.

FY18 ALSRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are anticipated to be posted on the Grants.gov website in March 2017. 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, and funding of research projects received in response to these program announcements is contingent on the availability of Federal funds appropriated for the ALSRP.

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency (DHA), J9 Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The mission of the ALSRP is to fund innovative pre-clinical research to develop new treatments for ALS for the benefit of Service members, Veterans, and the general public.

The following mechanisms are planned for release:

Award Mechanism Eligibility Key Mechanism Elements Funding
Therapeutic Development Award Independent investigators at all academic levels
  • Pre-application is required; full application submission is by invitation only
  • Supports post-discovery, preclinical development of therapeutics for ALS
  • Preliminary data, including identify and purity of an identified bioactive compound(s), are required
  • Types of efforts that will be supported include:
    • Confirmation of candidate therapeutics obtained from screening or by other means
    • Validation of early pilot studies in multiple model systems and/or replicating preliminary data with more time points or additional doses
    • Optimization of potency and pharmacology, studies of formulation, stability and production methods based on Good Manufacturing Practices
    • Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies
  • Clinical trials are not allowed
  • Does not support screening or development of screens or models
New! The following option, with additional funding for qualified applications, is being offered:
  • Therapeutic Relevance Option supports development of markers that will improve the drug development process in parallel with the main therapeutic advancement effort.
  • Applicants must submit a Therapeutic Relevance Statement that clearly describes how the marker is quantifiable and has potential to improve the efficacy of the therapy development process.
  • Application to this option is not a requirement for TDA submission
  • A TDA application requesting the higher level of funding that does meet the specified criteria may be funded at the lower level
  • Standard award maximum funding of $1,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Standard award with Option:
    • If applying for the Therapeutic Relevance Option, maximum funding of up to $1,250,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years
Therapeutic Idea Award Independent investigators at all academic levels
  • Pre-application is required; full application submission is by invitation only.
  • Supports new ideas aimed at drug or treatment discovery that are still in the early stages of development
  • Preliminary data are not required
  • Types of efforts that will be supported include:
    • Exploitation of pathways known to be relevant to ALS for the purpose of improving treatment and/or advancing a novel treatment modality
    • Development, modification, and use of high-throughput screens and novel model systems to define or assess lead compounds
  • Projects that focus primarily on investigating the pathophysiology of ALS are outside of the scope of this announcement
  • Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
  • Maximum period of performance is 2 years

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. 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 CDMRP funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

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. For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under "Email Subscriptions" on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org. 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


Last updated Monday, December 16, 2024