Call for Nominations: Drug Discovery Award

Deadline Date: November 11, 2024

 Donor Name: The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research

 Grant Size: $500,000 to $1 million

The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research is inviting applications for its Drug Discovery Award which is dedicated to accelerate exciting academic discoveries into new therapies and platforms that will substantially improve outcomes for cancer patients.

Currently, there are few options for academic scientists to obtain the resources and know-how to advance drug discovery efforts for promising new cancer targets. To stem this gap, the program would align with investigators working to discover and progress a new therapeutic agent into preclinical development, providing not only resources to support post-target validation through early lead development but also the expertise of seasoned biopharma R&D scientists who will advise on activities on the critical path to developing a new therapeutic agent.

Award Information

• Applicants may request funding to support a total budget of up to $1,000,000 for a period of 12-36 months.
• The budget limit includes both direct and indirect costs, with indirect costs not to exceed 10% of the direct costs.
• The budget and duration requested for the grant must match a realistic estimate of the cost and timeline for the proposed work.
• The proposed work must carry the project forward to a well-defined milestone/value inflection point (e.g., identification of a potent and selective lead or demonstration of in vivo efficacy)
• Some or all of the proposed work may be carried out at approved contract research organizations (CROs)

Eligible Projects

• Lead discovery: generate and credential new leads against a validated target
• Optimization: assess and enhance efficacy, safety, and DMPK of existing leads

Ineligible Projects

• Drug delivery technologies or optimizations
• Drug repurposing
• Preclinical development (IND-enabling studies)
• Cell therapies, gene therapies, viral therapies, and vaccines

Eligibility Criteria

• Letters of intent will be accepted from non-profit research institutions only; for-profit companies are not eligible to apply. The award is open to institutions worldwide.
• Principal investigators must hold an MD, PhD, or equivalent and be independent researchers at their respective institutions.
• Individuals are limited to one application as principal investigator but may be co-investigators on other proposals without limitation.
• Eligible therapeutic modalities:
  • Large molecules/biologics
  • Small molecules (including heterobifunctionals)
  • Peptides
  • Conjugates (ADC, radioconjugates)
  • Nucleic acids (ASO, RNA)

For more information, visit The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research