NCATS Funds New Drug Repurposing Projects, Seeks Additional Industry Partners

Through its Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules (New Therapeutic Uses) program, NCATS recently awarded funding for three new projects to repurpose compounds that have already undergone significant research and development by industry, including testing in humans. The grantees will study graft-versus-host disease, a major problem for people who have had a bone marrow transplant; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic and ultimately fatal disease in which scar tissue clogs the lungs; and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

NCATS is seeking additional industry partners to participate in future New Therapeutic Uses funding opportunities. Through the program, NCATS facilitates the establishment of efficient drug development partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers using template legal agreements, which accelerate the process to as few as four months, compared with the more typical nine months to a year or more. Interested companies can review participation criteria and contact NewTherapeuticUses@mail.nih.gov for more information.

Posted April 2018