Small Businesses—New FOA Seeks Multipurpose Prevention Technologies

Investigators at small business concerns (SBCs): Are you interested in developing new and innovative long-acting systemic and non-systemic multipurpose prevention technologies (MPT)? If so, consider applying to the reissued funding opportunity announcement (FOA) Multipurpose Prevention Technology: Novel Systemic Options for Young Adults (R43/R44, Clinical Trial Not Allowed).

NIAID is one of three institutes participating in the FOA, which 1) supports developing MPTs that prevent HIV infection and pregnancy (hormonal and non-hormonal methods) in adolescent and young women and 2) has a special interest in health disparity populations that are disproportionately infected by HIV and individuals wanting the convenience of a multi-component prevention strategy.

Your application may involve pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, safety and, drug-drug interactions studies. The FOA also encourages biobehavioral and behavioral/social studies to identify MPT end user preferences factors (i.e., look, feel, effectiveness, safety, and duration of action) and other behavioral or social factors that could promote increased MPT use in adolescent and young women.

NIAID Areas of Scientific Interest

Here are a few examples; see the FOA for the complete list.

• Developing episodic dosed MPTs for use during periods of sexual activity with a minimum of seven days protection from a single dose for MPTs targeting HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) for cis and trans males and females.
• Developing sustained/extended release MPTs that provide months to years of protection from HIV and/or STI infection and pregnancy in women using a single dose or a constant drug delivery system, which may be modeled after the highly effective long-acting reversible contraceptive strategies for durations and use patterns.
• Developing animal models (single model or separate harmonized animal models) that evaluate the efficacy and safety of the active ingredients of a multiple indication MPT product.
• Understanding the biobehavioral factors which govern decisions made by individuals to use MPTs (look, feel, and duration).
• Developing MPTs that deliver effective HIV and STI drug concentrations to both the female reproductive tract and the gastrointestinal tract of males and females.

Award Information

We encourage you to propose a project duration period that is reasonable and appropriate for completing your project. Award periods normally may not exceed six months for Phase I and two years for Phase II. As for award budgets, they are capped at $259,613 and $1,730,751 total costs for the entire project duration, respectively.

Due Dates

Note that the FOA accepts applications only for the AIDS application due dates of December 9, 2021; December 9, 2022; and December 9, 2023, by 5 p.m. of the applicant organization.

Have Questions?

Direct them to Dr. James Cummins, NIAID’s scientific research contact, at cumminsje@mail.nih.gov or 240-292-4800.