As new therapeutics have begun moving the needle for ALS patients, tracking disease progression and monitoring the effects of drug treatment have become even more important. Biomarkers are needed to stratify patient populations, understand response to therapeutics, and quantify disease progression. We are soliciting proposals from collaborative groups focused on the discovery and development of novel disease progression and stratification biomarkers using any modality.
Key Dates
September 2024
October 2024
What We’re Funding
Although all groups studying disease progression biomarkers are eligible to apply, Target ALS is particularly interested in supporting projects that propose the study of:
- Cryptic exons and cryptic exon-related biomarkers
- Biomarkers with utility in ongoing or upcoming therapeutic trials
- Biomarkers for patient population stratification for specific therapeutics (e.g. presence of specific cryptic exons, cognitive involvement, ALS/FTD spectrum)
Confidentiality of investigator’s data, research, and intellectual property will be strictly honored. Target ALS does not seek ownership of any intellectual property or financial gains that result on the basis of its funding.
Who Should Apply
This call is focused on bringing investigators together to work collaboratively on ALS biology with the aim of identifying novel ALS disease progression biomarkers. Only collaborative projects will be considered.
- Collaborative projects for this call comprise groups of 3-5 laboratories working around a common theme or target.
- All collaborators must provide a copy of the executed agreement between their institutions on data/IP sharing OR provide a document that confirms each Technology Transfer Office has been made aware of the collaborative project and the need to sign a data/IP sharing agreement as part of the full proposal submission. NOTE: A fully executed data/IP sharing agreement must be shared within 60 days of notification of award or the grant will be rescinded.
- Each consortium should have at least one investigator from the biotech/pharmaceutical industry
- A Principal Investigator can only participate in one LOI submission.
- Principal Investigators who have two or more active competitive grants from Target ALS are not eligible to apply.
What Our Grants Support
- Funding to cover the following project components:
- Researcher salaries and fringe benefits
- Lab supplies, materials, and equipment
- Research associated costs up to 15% of the award (e.g. lab’s rent)
- Access to Target ALS core facilities.
- A speaker slot at the Target ALS annual meeting, held in Boston, MA. This meeting provides an immersive experience in cutting edge ALS research and offers an opportunity to network with leaders from academia, pharma/biotech, venture capital and other non-profits.
- Grant structure:
- $130,000 per lab, per year maximum.
- The total budget for a collaborative project cannot exceed a maximum of $500,000 per year.
- The initial grant will be for a two-year period.
- The consortium will be eligible to compete for a third year of funding based on a review of updated project goals as well as compelling progress at the end of second year of funding.
