Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 303
The Innovative Molecular Analysis Technology Development for Cancer Research and Clinical Care (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) opportunity, listed as PAR 18 303, is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program aimed specifically at small business concerns that are developing new, commercially viable technologies for cancer research and, potentially, future clinical care. The central purpose is to push forward novel molecular and cellular analysis tools that can meaningfully improve how cancer is studied, detected, characterized, or monitored by addressing long-standing technical bottlenecks or by enabling capabilities that current methods simply do not offer.
A key emphasis of this announcement is true technological innovation in cancer-relevant molecular and/or cellular analysis. The government is looking for projects that do more than incrementally improve existing platforms. Competitive projects are expected to propose technologies with a strong chance of overcoming persistent obstacles in the field (for example, limitations in sensitivity, specificity, throughput, spatial resolution, sample requirements, cost, robustness, or usability), or technologies that could open up entirely new directions for cancer research or clinical applications. In practice, this could include new instruments, assay systems, computational methods tightly coupled to measurement technologies, sample processing innovations, or integrated platforms that improve the quality and interpretability of cancer-related molecular or cellular data.
Because this is an SBIR mechanism, commercialization is not an afterthought. Applicants are expected to outline clear, concrete development milestones and to connect those milestones to a plausible path toward a product or service. The proposal should make it easy to understand what will be built, what performance targets will be achieved, how progress will be measured, and what steps will move the technology from an early prototype toward a market-ready solution. The announcement explicitly calls for applicants to describe the technology's significant attributes and advantages compared with existing technologies and conventional approaches, meaning reviewers will be looking for a well-supported case that the proposed approach is meaningfully better, not just different.
This FOA is positioned as complementary to the National Cancer Institute's Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) program. Its role is to help move promising technology concepts along a commercialization-oriented track, aligning with IMAT goals while using the SBIR structure to focus on small business product development. Importantly, prior participation in the IMAT program is not required, so small businesses without a previous IMAT award can still apply as long as the proposed work fits the goals and scope described.
The eligibility is limited to small businesses, and the activity is supported through the SBIR R43 and R44 grant mechanisms, which generally correspond to phased technology development (often associated with Phase I and Phase II efforts). The listing indicates that clinical trials are not allowed under this announcement, which signals that while the technologies may be intended for eventual clinical use, the funded work under this FOA should not involve clinical trial activities as defined by NIH policy. The opportunity is categorized under education and health-related funding activity and is associated with CFDA numbers 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, and 93.396, reflecting its alignment with NCI/NIH cancer research and related programs.
From an administrative perspective, the sponsoring agency is NIH, with the opportunity created on 2017-10-03 and an original closing date listed as 2021-01-07. The provided source data does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards, so applicants would typically need to rely on the full FOA text and NIH guidance for budget expectations, submission cycles, and detailed review criteria. Overall, the program is designed for small businesses that can credibly develop and commercialize cutting-edge molecular or cellular analysis technologies with clear advantages over current options and a strong potential to advance cancer research and future clinical care.Apply for PAR 18 303
- The National Institutes of Health in the education, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Innovative Molecular Analysis Technology Development for Cancer Research and Clinical Care (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2017-10-03.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-01-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.
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Applicants also applied for:
Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (PAR 18 303) also looked into and applied for these:
| Funding Opportunity |
|---|
| Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) in Human Cancers for years 2018, 2019 and 2020 (P50) Apply for PAR 18 313 Funding Number: PAR 18 313 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Assay Validation of High Quality Markers for Clinical Studies in Cancer (UH3 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed Apply for PAR 18 310 Funding Number: PAR 18 310 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $250,000 |
| Developing Interventions for Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (R21/R33 - Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 18 307 Funding Number: PAR 18 307 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Assay Validation of High Quality Markers for Clinical Studies in Cancer (UH2/UH3 - Clinical Trials Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 317 Funding Number: PAR 18 317 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Feasibility and Planning Studies for Development of Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) to Investigate Cancer Health Disparities (P20) Apply for RFA CA 17 033 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 033 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $800,000 |
| Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and follow-up through Implementation Science (ACCSIS)(UG3/UH3) Apply for RFA CA 17 038 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 038 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Limited Competition: NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Center (U24) Apply for RFA CA 17 060 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 060 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $7,400,000 |
| NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Network Group Integrated Translational Science Centers (UG1) Apply for RFA CA 17 061 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 061 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $850,000 |
| Limited Competition: NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Network Group Statistics and Data Management Centers (U10) Apply for RFA CA 17 057 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 057 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Limited Competition: NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Network Group Operations Centers (U10) Apply for RFA CA 17 056 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 056 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Limited Competition: NCI National Clinical Trials Network - Canadian Collaborating Clinical Trials Network (U10) Apply for RFA CA 17 058 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 058 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Human Tumor Atlas Network: Data Coordinating Center (U24) Apply for RFA CA 17 036 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 036 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Human Tumor Atlases (HTA) Precancer Atlas Research Centers (U2C) Apply for RFA CA 17 035 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 035 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $1,600,000 |
| Human Tumor Atlases (HTA) Research Centers (U2C) Apply for RFA CA 17 034 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 034 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN)--Network Lead Academic Participating Sites (UG1) Apply for RFA CA 17 059 Funding Number: RFA CA 17 059 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $1,500,000 |
| Simulation Modeling and Systems Science to Address Health Disparities (R01-Clinical Trial Not Allowed) Apply for PAR 18 331 Funding Number: PAR 18 331 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: $250,000 |
| National Cancer Institute Program Project Applications (P01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PAR 18 290 Funding Number: PAR 18 290 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NCI Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award to Promote Diversity (K08 - No Independent Clinical Trials) Apply for PAR 18 337 Funding Number: PAR 18 337 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NCI Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award to Promote Diversity (K08 - Clinical Trials Required) Apply for PAR 18 336 Funding Number: PAR 18 336 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| The Application of Big Data Analytics to Drug Abuse Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) Apply for PA 18 057 Funding Number: PA 18 057 Agency: National Institutes of Health Category: Education, Health Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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