Novel Nucleic Acid Sequencing Technology Development (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA HG 18 003

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HG 18 003

The Novel Nucleic Acid Sequencing Technology Development (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity (RFA-HG-18-003) is a discretionary NIH grant program run through the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) that targets small businesses developing next-generation nucleic acid sequencing technologies. It uses the NIH SBIR/STTR-style phased mechanism (R43/R44), meaning it is structured to support early feasibility work and then further development toward a product-ready technology. The central purpose is to push sequencing capability forward in a way that is not incremental. Applicants are expected to pursue genuinely novel approaches that can deliver major performance leaps rather than modest optimization of existing platforms.

The technical bar set by the announcement is high and very specific. For DNA sequencing, the FOA calls for technologies that can achieve at least an order-of-magnitude (10x) improvement, which can refer to meaningful gains in one or more key dimensions of sequencing performance. Those dimensions include longer read lengths, faster turnaround time from sample to result, higher per-base accuracy, higher throughput, improved efficiency, and similar practical metrics that directly affect real-world usability and cost. In parallel, the FOA explicitly seeks practical methods for direct RNA sequencing, which is notable because many widely used workflows rely on converting RNA to cDNA prior to sequencing. Direct RNA sequencing can potentially preserve native RNA features and reduce biases introduced during reverse transcription and amplification, so the program is signaling a clear interest in expanding what sequencing can measure and how reliably it can do so.

The motivation behind the program is the broader trajectory of genomics: over many years, the field benefited from dramatic increases in DNA sequencing throughput and steep declines in cost, which in turn accelerated basic research and biomedical applications. NHGRI is framing this FOA as the next step in that progression, focusing not just on cheaper sequencing but on better sequencing. The emphasis is on improving quality and efficiency in ways that meaningfully expand scientific and clinical possibilities, while still keeping costs reasonable enough for adoption. Technologies that enable new classes of experiments, more accurate variant detection, better handling of difficult genomic regions, faster processing for time-sensitive use cases, or more informative RNA readouts would fit the spirit of the call, so long as the improvement is substantial and convincingly demonstrated.

From an eligibility standpoint, the applicant organization must be a small business. Non-U.S. entities (foreign institutions) are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply. At the same time, the FOA notes that foreign components, as defined under the NIH Grants Policy Statement, may be allowed, which typically means a U.S. awardee can sometimes include certain limited foreign collaborations or activities when they are well justified and meet NIH policy requirements. The funding instrument is a grant, the activity category is health, and the program is associated with CFDA number 93.172. The original closing date listed is 2020-09-10, and the opportunity was created on 2018-04-18, which helps place it in time and suggests it may have been part of a defined solicitation window rather than an always-open mechanism.

Finally, the label "Clinical Trial Not Allowed" matters for planning the proposed work. It indicates the project should be technology development and validation in appropriate research settings, not a clinical trial as defined by NIH. In practice, that typically steers applicants toward benchtop development, analytical validation, testing on research samples, and other non-trial evaluation activities that still provide rigorous evidence the technology can achieve the promised leap in sequencing performance.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Novel Nucleic Acid Sequencing Technology Development (R43/R44 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.172.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-04-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-09-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

Apply for RFA HG 18 003

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