In May 2012,the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) launched the Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules pilot program, which will match scientists with industry molecular compounds.
Many of the agents and data needed for efficient drug rescue and repurposing is held by the private sector. Under this new initiative, partnerships will be developed between pharmaceutical companies and the biomedical research community. The companies will provide researchers with access to the compounds and related data which have undergone significant pre-cinical and Phase I testing and are ready for additional testing in humans. The number of compounds has more than doubled since the launch.
On June 12th, NCATS announced five new industry collaborators in this initiative, funding opportunity information, and the 58 compounds the companies are making available. Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C., and Sanofi now have joined Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly and Company in this innovative approach to research.
For the pilot phase of the program, in Fiscal Year 2013, NCATS will provide up to $20 million for this program to fund two- to three-year staged, cooperative agreement research grants. This program is open to academia, nonprofits, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and government – intramural NIH investigators must secure funding from their institute.
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