Technology area

Gene & nucleic-acid therapy

364 funded awards, $229.8M total, FY2023-FY2025.

Data current as of 2026-05-11

Pattern read

Gene and nucleic-acid therapy is split fairly evenly across NCI (59), NIGMS (53), and NINDS (49). The NIGMS share captures basic-mechanism and platform work; NINDS reflects rare neurological gene therapies. Median award is $400K, the lowest among therapeutic tags. R41 at 66 is unusually high relative to total records, reflecting heavy academic origin for gene-therapy technology. R44 (152) and R43 (103) show roughly a 1.5x ratio. Concentration is low at 4.9%.

Fit indicators

  • Strong STTR share (66 of 364 records, ~18%). Academic-IP-based teams have a clear path.
  • Three-IC spread: NCI, NIGMS, and NINDS. Indication-specific framing matters more than platform framing.

Watchouts

  • Median award is low ($400K) compared to other therapeutic tags. The dataset skews earlier-stage; budget against that, not against a Phase II ceiling.
  • AAV, LNP, and oligonucleotide work all land in this tag. Modality specifics matter to reviewers; the tag is too coarse to lean on as a category.

Where the money sat, by Institute / Center

IC funding decisions are set by portfolio priorities, NOFO scope, and program-officer judgment. These are funded records, not predictions of future funding.

ICNameRecordsMedian award
CA (NCI) National Cancer Institute 59 $665,000
GM (NIGMS) National Institute of General Medical Sciences 53 $324,998
NS (NINDS) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 49 $699,559
HL (NHLBI) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute 47 $568,264
AI (NIAID) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 41 $303,731
EY (NEI) National Eye Institute 20 $699,946
TR (NCATS) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences 19 $350,000
DK (NIDDK) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 18 $470,467
AR (NIAMS) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 17 $303,065
AG (NIA) National Institute on Aging 14 $336,519
HG (NHGRI) National Human Genome Research Institute 7 $358,579
HD (NICHD) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 5 $853,987
AA (NIAAA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 4 $1,127,779
MH (NIMH) National Institute of Mental Health 4 $1,032,071
DC (NIDCD) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 2 $300,645
EB (NIBIB) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering 2 $303,195
OD NIH Office of the Director 2 $976,622
DA (NIDA) National Institute on Drug Abuse 1 $399,997

FOA / NOFO routes

Opportunity number prefixes: PA = Parent Announcement (broad, omnibus, multiple ICs), PAR = Parent with Special Review, PAS = Parent with set-aside funds, RFA = Request for Applications (targeted, single-IC, fixed budget). Status unknown means the pipeline has not verified whether the FOA is currently posting awards; the SBIR omnibus has been in reauthorization gap during this window. See the glossary for full definitions.

OpportunityStatusRecords
PA-22-176 unknown 80
PA-23-230 unknown 70
PA-22-178 unknown 29
PA-24-245 unknown 26
PA-23-232 unknown 24
PA-21-259 unknown 22
PA-24-247 unknown 20
PA-21-262 unknown 16
PA-20-260 unknown 11
PA-19-272 unknown 9
PA-20-265 unknown 7
PA-20-272 unknown 4
PA-23-231 unknown 4
PA-21-345 unknown 4
PA-19-270 unknown 3
PAR-22-073 unknown 3
RFA-HL-23-008 unknown 2
PAR-21-114 unknown 2
PAS-22-196 unknown 2
RFA-CA-24-023 unknown 2
PA-24-246 unknown 2
RFA-AG-24-042 unknown 2
PA-19-271 unknown 2
PA-21-260 unknown 2
PA-20-047 unknown 2
PAS-19-316 unknown 2
RFA-CA-24-022 unknown 1
RFA-DA-25-050 unknown 1
PAR-24-131 expired 1
PA-25-212 unknown 1
PAS-22-197 unknown 1
PA-23-189 unknown 1
PA-18-575 unknown 1
RFA-HG-21-008 unknown 1
PAR-20-098 unknown 1
PA-18-574 unknown 1
PAS-19-317 unknown 1
PA-21-071 unknown 1

Comparable funded projects

ApplIDFYICTitleOrganizationAmount
10931496 2025 CA Aerosolized Epigenetic Therapy for Metastatic Lung Cancer NOB HILL THERAPEUTICS, INC. $1,138,913
10983353 2025 TR A cross-species preclinical platform to enhance the translation of new medicines CURI BIO INC $1,149,771
11001285 2025 AR Systemic Transplantation of MyoPAXon: IND Enabling Studies for the Treatment of DMD MYOGENICA INC. $1,266,814
11012345 2025 CA MT-125 for the Therapeutic Treatment of Glioblastoma MYOSIN THERAPEUTICS INC. $911,407
11045006 2025 HL Hemophilia Point-of-Care Monitoring Device and App DNA MEDICINE INSTITUTE $1,000,000
11063871 2025 AR A novel agent for preventing fatty degeneration of muscles in LGMD2B ADVERTENT BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC. $1,292,847
11065199 2025 CA Development of a DISE-inducing, short RNA therapeutic to treat ovarian cancer NUAGO THERAPEUTICS INC $400,000
11065238 2025 GM High-Resolution Pseudouridine and m6A Sequencing Through Advanced Nanopore Adduct Analysis ELECTRONIC BIOSCIENCES, INC. $350,000

Review panels that have appeared on these records

Panel names use NIH's Center for Scientific Review (CSR) format: a 2-4 letter study-section code plus a meeting-cycle number in parentheses (e.g. ISB (12) = Instrumentation and Systems Development, cycle 12). SBIR/STTR review groups are temporary, meeting-specific bodies. The names below describe panels that have appeared on the cited funded-project records, not where future applications get assigned. NIH assigns panels at the time of submission based on the application content.

Limitations

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