NIH PAR · NCATS · R21

PAR-25-442: Expanding the Target Landscape by Drugging the Undruggable (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed October 16, 2026Data refreshed October 16, 2026Editorial standards

Open for applicationsNext due date: Feb 17, 2027Expires Feb 18, 2028

The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to solicit applications for exploratory and early-stage projects that focus on undruggable target classes within intractable human disease. Applicants will identify a human disease relevant undruggable target class and develop a method or agent that is selective for one or more targets within that target class. This NOFO is intended to jumpstart research that demonstrates innovative strategies to modulate targets that cannot be addressed by established therapeutic types, furthering the development of methods and/or agents selective for undruggable target classes.

Full NOFO in the NIH Guide Apply on Grants.gov

NOFO number
PAR-25-442
Type
PAR
Activity code
R21
Primary institute
NCATS · National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Clinical trials
Not Allowed
Posted
Jun 17, 2025
Opens
Sep 17, 2025
Expires
Feb 18, 2028

PAR-25-442 due dates

2 application due dates remain before the NOFO expires. Dates marked * are NIH standard due dates. Check the related notices below for changes NIH made after posting.

Application due dates and review cycles for PAR-25-442
Application Due Date(s)Renewal / Resubmission / Revision (as allowed)AIDS - New/Renewal/Resubmission/Revision, as allowedScientific Merit ReviewAdvisory Council ReviewEarliest Start Date
October 17, 2025October 17, 2025Not ApplicableFebruary 2026May 2026July 2026
May 15, 2026May 15, 2026Not ApplicableOctober 2026January 2027April 2027
February 17, 2027February 17, 2027Not ApplicableJune 2027October 2027December 2027
February 17, 2028February 17, 2028Not ApplicableJune 2028October 2028December 2028

Projects funded under PAR-25-442

NIH RePORTER lists 10 projects funded under PAR-25-442 in FY2022–FY2026, with $4.1M in award dollars. Counts include each project's later non-competing years, which keep the original NOFO number.

Projects funded

10

Distinct projects, FY2022–FY2026

New awards

10

Type 1 (new project) award records

NIH funding

$4.1M

Award dollars under PAR-25-442, FY2022–FY2026

Funding by fiscal year

Award records, new awards, and funding by fiscal year under PAR-25-442
Fiscal yearAward recordsNew awardsFunding
FY202200$0
FY202300$0
FY202400$0
FY202500$0
FY20261010$4.1M

Institutions with the most funding

  1. Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute$536K · 1 project
  2. University of Chicago$451K · 1 project
  3. Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr$446K · 1 project
  4. Indiana University Indianapolis$436K · 1 project
  5. Emory University$430K · 1 project
  6. State University of New York at Albany$430K · 1 project
  7. Washington University$428K · 1 project
  8. Tufts University Medford$375K · 1 project

Funding institutes

  • NCATS$3.0M · 7
  • NICHD$873K · 2
  • NIAID$223K · 1

Activity codes funded

Most recent new awards

FY2026 closed on September 30, 2026, but NIH keeps posting that year's awards to RePORTER for several weeks. FY2026 figures reflect records available on October 16, 2026 and may rise slightly at the next refresh.

Participating institutes

6 NIH institutes and offices take applications under PAR-25-442. Contact the program officer at the institute that fits your research before applying.

  • NCATS · National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
  • NEI · National Eye Institute
  • NIAID · National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  • NIDCR · National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
  • NIMH · National Institute of Mental Health
  • NICHD · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Related notices

  1. Aug 31, 2022 · NOT-OD-22-198

    Implementation Changes for Genomic Data Sharing Plans Included with Applications Due on or after January 25, 2023. See Notice NOT-OD-22-198.

  2. Aug 5, 2022 · NOT-OD-22-189

    Implementation Details for the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy. See Notice NOT-OD-22-189.

Award terms

Application types allowed
NewResubmission The OER Glossary and the How to Apply Application Guide provide details on these application types. Only those application types listed here are allowed for this NOFO.
Award budget
The combined budget for direct costs for the two-year project period may not exceed 275,000. No more than 200,000 may be requested in any single year.
Project period
The total project period may not exceed 2 years. NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this NOFO.
Funds available and number of awards
The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.

Summarized from the NOFO text; the full NOFO governs eligibility, budget, and review.

Other open NOFOs for R21

Browse all open NIH NOFOs

About this page

GotGrant gathers the NOFO, its participation and change notices, and its NOSIs from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, and counts funded projects from NIH RePORTER by the opportunity number each award was made under. Data refreshed October 16, 2026; the NIH Guide is the authoritative source. See our data methodology.

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