Through this funding opportunity announcement (FOA), NCI wishes to stimulate research in discovery and development of novel, small molecules for their potential use in studying disease treatment relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes (NIDCD, NIMH); and to generate new insight into the biology of relevant diseases and processes that have yet to be validated as important drug targets.
Stages of discovery research covered by this FOA include: 1) assay development; 2) primary screen implementation to identify initial screening hits (high throughput target-focused screens, or moderate throughput screens); 3) hit validation using a series of assays and initial medicinal chemistry inspection to prioritize the hit set; and 4) hit-to-lead optimization.