Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA DA 18 020
The NIDA Translational Avant-Garde Award for Development of Medication to Treat Substance Use Disorders (UG3/UH3, Clinical Trial Optional) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity from the Department of Health and Human Services, administered through the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Listed under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-DA-18-020 and CFDA 93.279, it is designed to push promising medication ideas beyond discovery and into practical drug-development steps that can ultimately support U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The core emphasis is on translation: taking strong basic science or clinical insights and turning them into real candidate medications for substance use disorders (SUDs), rather than stopping at early-stage academic findings.
The program targets medications intended to treat SUDs associated with tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and prescription opioid use. Applicants are expected to propose molecules (or other therapeutic candidates) with credible potential to become medications and to show they can move those candidates forward along the drug development continuum. In practice, that means the project should not just describe an interesting target or mechanism; it should outline how the team will create, optimize, and evaluate a candidate sufficiently to “de-risk” it and bring it closer to the kinds of evidence regulators require. While clinical trials are optional under this announcement, the award is structured to support the sort of rigorous preclinical and/or early clinical work that meaningfully advances a compound toward an Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling package and later-stage testing.
This opportunity uses a cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning NIH/NIDA expects to have substantial scientific and programmatic involvement during the life of the award. Cooperative agreements typically involve closer coordination with the funding agency than a standard research grant, often including milestone-based management, go/no-go decision points, and regular progress interactions. The UG3/UH3 structure is commonly used for phased, milestone-driven projects: an initial phase (UG3) supports planning and early development work, and a subsequent phase (UH3) supports the next stage once predefined milestones are successfully met. The intent is to fund projects that can demonstrate disciplined execution and measurable progress, not just exploratory research.
The funding details provided indicate an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and an expectation of about 2 awards. The opportunity was created on December 6, 2017, with an original closing date of September 7, 2020. These numbers signal a highly competitive, high-impact program aimed at a small set of teams with strong drug-development capability, clear translational direction, and the operational capacity to move a therapeutic candidate forward on an FDA-relevant path.
Eligibility is broad and includes many types of domestic organizations that can credibly run translational drug-development efforts. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and additional entities as clarified by the NIH in the full eligibility text. This breadth is consistent with the program’s translational focus, since successful medication development often requires capabilities that exist across academia, biotech/pharma, and public-sector research settings.
Overall, the award is meant for investigators and teams who are not only scientifically innovative but also positioned to do the hard, methodical work of medication development for SUDs. The central deliverable is forward motion of a therapeutic molecule toward clinical readiness and, ultimately, toward FDA approval, with NIDA support structured to reward clear milestones, strong development plans, and evidence that the candidate can realistically progress through the next stages of the pipeline.Apply for RFA DA 18 020
- The Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIDA Translational Avant-Garde Award for Development of Medication to Treat Substance Use Disorders (UG3/UH3, Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.279.
- This funding opportunity was created on Dec 06, 2017.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 07, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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| Administrative Supplements to NCI Grant and Cooperative Agreement Awards to Support Collaborations with the PDX Development and Trial Centers Research Network (PDXNet)(Admin Suppl - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PA 18 496 Funding Number: PA 18 496 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $125,000 |
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| NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Community Sites (UG1 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA CA 18 016 Funding Number: RFA CA 18 016 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Minority/Underserved Community Sites (UG1 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA CA 18 017 Funding Number: RFA CA 18 017 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Research Bases (UG1 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA CA 18 015 Funding Number: RFA CA 18 015 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Approaches to Identify and Care for Individuals with Inherited Cancer Syndromes (U01 Clinical Trial Required) Apply for RFA CA 19 017 Funding Number: RFA CA 19 017 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| HIV/AIDS High Priority Drug Abuse Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAS 18 915 Funding Number: PAS 18 915 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Fusion Oncoproteins in Childhood Cancers (FusOnC2) Consortium (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA CA 19 016 Funding Number: RFA CA 19 016 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $1,600,000 |
| Administrative Supplements to Cancer Center Support Grants to Strengthen the Research, Training, and Outreach Capacity of the Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program (Admin Suppl - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PA 18 934 Funding Number: PA 18 934 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $250,000 |
| The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (UG1 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA DA 19 008 Funding Number: RFA DA 19 008 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| NLM Grants for Scholarly Works in Biomedicine and Health (G13 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 19 032 Funding Number: PAR 19 032 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $50,000 |
| Administrative Supplements to Cancer Center Support Grants to Strengthen NCI-Supported Community Outreach Capacity through Community Health Educators of the National Outreach Network (Admin Suppl Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PA 19 035 Funding Number: PA 19 035 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $125,000 |
| Immuno-Oncology Translation Network (IOTN): Immuno-engineering to Improve Immunotherapy (i3) Centers (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA CA 19 013 Funding Number: RFA CA 19 013 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $900,000 |
| HEAL Initiative: Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) Coordination and Translation Center (U2C Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for RFA DA 19 024 Funding Number: RFA DA 19 024 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $2,500,000 |
| HEAL Initiative: Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) Methodology and Advanced Analytics Resource Center (U2C Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA DA 19 023 Funding Number: RFA DA 19 023 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $2,500,000 |
| NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 - Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for RFA CA 19 029 Funding Number: RFA CA 19 029 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| Advanced Development and Validation of Emerging Biospecimen Science Technologies for Basic and Clinical Cancer Research (R33 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) Apply for RFA CA 19 022 Funding Number: RFA CA 19 022 Agency: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $300,000 |
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