Technology area

Cell therapy

512 funded awards, $319.1M total, FY2023-FY2025.

Data current as of 2026-05-11

Pattern read

Cell therapy is heavily oncology-weighted: NCI accounts for 122 records, with NIAID (59) and NIDDK (53) trailing. NIAID picks up cell-therapy work for immune disorders and select infectious indications; NIDDK reflects diabetes-related beta-cell and regenerative work. Total: 512 records / $319M. Median award is $487K, middling among therapeutic tags. STTR (R41) is unusually well-represented at 77 records, which fits cell therapy's heavy academic-origin pattern; many of these are still co-developed with university labs. Concentration is moderate (6.2%) -- a discernible cluster of repeat awardees but most companies show up once or twice. The tag includes CAR-T, NK-cell, regulatory T-cell, stem-cell-based, and gene-modified-cell approaches.

Fit indicators

  • Strong STTR presence (77 R41 records). Academic-IP-origin cell therapies have a real path.
  • NCI dominant; oncology is the canonical fit.

Watchouts

  • Manufacturing complexity is usually the gating reviewer concern. Budget and BOE need to address CMC realistically.
  • The tag bundles autologous and allogeneic work together. Reviewers expect a clear stance on which.

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 122 $657,754
AI (NIAID) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 59 $306,500
DK (NIDDK) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 53 $370,020
GM (NIGMS) National Institute of General Medical Sciences 53 $350,000
HL (NHLBI) National Heart Lung and Blood Institute 52 $396,570
AG (NIA) National Institute on Aging 38 $500,000
NS (NINDS) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 35 $499,766
TR (NCATS) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences 25 $350,000
AR (NIAMS) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 22 $310,121
MH (NIMH) National Institute of Mental Health 19 $793,383
ES (NIEHS) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 8 $700,679
DA (NIDA) National Institute on Drug Abuse 5 $399,997
HD (NICHD) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 5 $541,602
EY (NEI) National Eye Institute 4 $331,301
OD NIH Office of the Director 4 $924,586
EB (NIBIB) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering 3 $996,469
AA (NIAAA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2 $442,529
HG (NHGRI) National Human Genome Research Institute 2 $350,192
DE (NIDCR) National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research 1 $306,868

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-23-230 unknown 99
PA-22-176 unknown 96
PA-24-245 unknown 45
PA-21-259 unknown 44
PA-22-178 unknown 32
PA-23-232 unknown 27
PA-24-247 unknown 24
PA-21-262 unknown 10
PAS-22-197 unknown 10
PA-20-260 unknown 10
PA-20-265 unknown 9
PA-23-231 unknown 8
PA-20-047 unknown 7
PAS-22-196 unknown 7
PA-21-345 unknown 7
PAS-19-316 unknown 6
PA-19-272 unknown 5
PA-22-177 unknown 5
PA-24-246 unknown 5
PA-20-272 unknown 5
PAR-22-073 unknown 5
PA-18-574 unknown 4
PA-21-260 unknown 2
RFA-DA-19-019 unknown 2
RFA-ES-23-008 unknown 2
PA-18-573 unknown 2
PAR-24-131 expired 2
RFA-AG-24-042 unknown 2
PA-25-212 unknown 2
RFA-CA-22-017 unknown 2
PA-19-271 unknown 2
PAR-21-225 unknown 2
PAR-21-114 unknown 2
RFA-DK-21-012 unknown 2
RFA-CA-22-025 unknown 1
RFA-AA-24-001 unknown 1
RFA-MD-24-006 unknown 1
RFA-DA-25-053 unknown 1
RFA-CA-24-023 unknown 1
PA-24-248 unknown 1
RFA-DA-25-050 unknown 1
RFA-MD-23-003 unknown 1
PAR-20-098 unknown 1
RFA-NS-20-011 unknown 1
PAS-19-317 unknown 1
PA-21-261 unknown 1
RFA-DK-21-021 unknown 1
RFA-ES-22-006 unknown 1
PA-21-071 unknown 1
RFA-NS-23-006 unknown 1
PAR-23-032 unknown 1
PA-21-268 unknown 1

Comparable funded projects

ApplIDFYICTitleOrganizationAmount
10598447 2025 CA Early clinical development of a novel IL-7R antibody for treating children with relapsed T-cell leukemia FANNIN PARTNERS, LLC $999,997
10907583 2025 CA Development of a Universal Assay for Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia using Duplex Sequencing TWINSTRAND BIOSCIENCES, INC. $1,985,831
10983353 2025 TR A cross-species preclinical platform to enhance the translation of new medicines CURI BIO INC $1,149,771
10997391 2025 AG A physiologically relevant pre-clinical drug screening platform for Alzheimer's Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury with integrated stretchable microelectrodes BMSEED, LLC $779,587
11001285 2025 AR Systemic Transplantation of MyoPAXon: IND Enabling Studies for the Treatment of DMD MYOGENICA INC. $1,266,814
11001572 2025 MH A parallelized imaging platform for accurate and efficient long-term assessment of brain organoid development RAMONA OPTICS, INC. $475,002
11031367 2025 DA Fast-track: Scalable digital delivery of evidence-based training for addiction professionals to maximize treatment admission and retention rates of opioid use disorder in affected families. WE THE VILLAGE, INC. $792,422
11032898 2025 AI A novel CAR-T cell therapy for the one-time treatment of chronic HIV infection in patients who are not ART suppressed MARPAM PHARMA, LLC $979,050

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

Want help with your NIH SBIR application?

Get started with Aims First →