The mission of the NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) program is to develop new and improved therapeutics to treat or prevent injuries resulting from exposure to chemical threats.
The NIH is seeking to establish new partnerships between funded researchers and industrial entities to work towards development of such medical countermeasure products and the sustainability of the overall research enterprise.
Many NIH CounterACT projects are developing candidate therapeutics and are now poised for more advanced development activities, including pre-Investigational New Drug (pre-IND)-enabling and clinical studies that could be supported by other federal agencies that fund advanced development.
The majority of projects supported by NIH are in academic labs that often do not possess the resources and expertise for these types of advanced studies. To address this need, it is critical that the NIH facilitate partnerships between academic laboratories and pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies that typically have more experience in drug development and regulatory approval.
The NIH is specifically seeking input from industry stakeholders on potential interest in attending a meeting with CounterACT investigators. They further request inputs on which characteristics of a project would influence interest in a countermeasure under development; and market influences beyond biodefense important to the development decision-making process.
The CounterACT meeting would also include presentations from federal government officials on the various funding programs available to support the advanced development of medical products within this mission.
Further details are available via Notice Number: NOT-NS-16-005. Responses to this RFI must be submitted no later than February 29, 2016.
