Accelerating Product Excellence in Innovation and for Clinical Adoption (Apex) (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) solicits cooperative agreement research applications to support a multidisciplinary program titled "Accelerating Product Excellence in Innovation and for Clinical Adoption" (APEx), that will facilitate advancement of promising strategies and products for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TE/RM). APEx will be composed of Resource Centers (RCs) and associated Interdisciplinary Translational Projects (ITPs) in the area of therapeutics (including adult stem cell-based treatments), sensors, and diagnostics. RCs will capitalize on their available clinical, scientific, industrial, regulatory and commercialization expertise, to deliver technical support, research capacity, administrative infrastructure and regulatory and commercialization support to the ITPs and guide them to complete pre-clinical studies toward initiation of clinical trials. During this funding cycle, APEx will complete validation, manufacturing, and preclinical testing of the most promising products, which may include, but are not limited to products for detecting or treating tissue damage caused by congenital defect, traumatic injury, or chronic disease. Products that support early detection of chronic pathologies, monitoring of validated biomarkers of health or disease, as well as approaches to reduce or prevent resulting damage, are especially encouraged. The outcome of APEx will be TE/RM products with their regulatory approvals in place for first-in-human studies, along with associated clinical study protocols, and synthesis and manufacturing protocols ready for initiation of clinical trials.