NIH BRAIN Initiative Grant: Next-Gen Invasive Devices for CNS Modulation (U44 Clinical Trial)

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage small business concerns (SBCs) to pursue translational non-clinical studies and clinical studies for recording and/or stimulating devices to treat nervous system disorders and thereby better understand the human brain. The program will utilize a cooperative agreement mechanism to support the non-clinical studies necessary for the submission of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) for a Significant Risk (SR) study or to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for a Non-Significant Risk (NSR) study, and the subsequent small clinical trial (e.g., Early Feasibility Study). Activities supported in this program include implementation of clinical prototype devices, non-clinical safety and efficacy testing, design verification and validation activities, and pursuit of regulatory approval for, and implementation of, a single small clinical trial. The small clinical trial should provide data to answer key questions about the function or final design of a device. This final device design may require most, if not all, of the non-clinical testing on the path to more advanced clinical trials and market approval. The clinical trial is expected to provide information that cannot be practically obtained through additional non-clinical assessments (e.g., bench top or animal studies) due to the novelty of the device or its intended use.