The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) is being developed to facilitate the discovery and development of new agents to treat patients with cancer. The NCI seeks to coordinate academic and private drug discovery efforts with its own, and thereby expedite the entry of new molecular entities (NME) into oncologic practice. The program is being developed by NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), in conjunction with NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR) and the NCI Director's Office, with guidance from external advisory panels. This effort will be managed by the NCI's Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program. SAIC-Frederick, Inc. (SAIC-F) is responsible for providing support for the key operational and technical aspects. It is envisioned that this Consortium will provide cutting-edge chemical tools for probing complex biochemical signaling pathways and will serve as the starting point for the elaboration of first-in-class targeted therapies. The long-term vision of the CBC is to bridge the gap between basic scientific findings and NCI-supported clinical research to facilitate the discovery and development of new agents to treat patients with cancer.

The CBC will establish an integrated network of chemical biologists, molecular oncologists, and compound screening centers from government, academia, and eventually from industry. The drug discovery strategy of the CBC is to expand current NCI programs by providing a coordinated focus on therapeutic opportunities in high-risk, under-represented areas, significantly advancing the discovery of novel compounds active against specific molecular and genetic cancer targets. CBC efforts will include recruiting extramural investigators with specialized expertise in novel discovery platforms as well as medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, molecular oncology, and other areas of drug discovery and development. The CBC will be centrally managed to coordinate the selection of targets and screening for agents that interact with these targets, and will then use an iterative development process to design and optimize drug "hits" into "leads." The CBC will benefit from access to the NCI's late-stage drug development resources and expertise.

SAIC-F is seeking technical proposals for Comprehensive Chemical Biology Screening Centers, Chemical Diversity Centers and/or Specialized Applications Centers. Participants are expected to support the progression of candidate molecules through formal milestones/Stage Gate discovery and development criteria established by Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) leadership in accordance with industry standards.

Participants will have an unparalleled opportunity to participate in a highly collaborative drug discovery partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Using state-of-the-art communication, data-sharing and project management tools, the CBC will effect a paradigm shift in the use of public-private partnerships to translate knowledge from leading academic institutions into ground-breaking new drug candidates for patients with cancer.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) was posted on September 16, 2008. Responses are due by 5 PM on Monday, October 27, 2008.