Development of Appropriate Pediatric Formulations and Pediatric Drug Delivery Systems (R03) | PAR 17 191

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 17 191

The grant opportunity "Development of Appropriate Pediatric Formulations and Pediatric Drug Delivery Systems (R03)" (Funding Opportunity Number PAR-17-191) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary research grant designed to speed up practical, early-stage work that improves how medicines are formulated and delivered for children. The core focus is on the reality that pediatric patients are not a single group: infants, toddlers, school-aged children, and adolescents differ in swallowing ability, taste preferences, dosing needs, physiology, and caregiving environments. Because of that, the FOA calls for research that tackles age-specific formulation and acceptability challenges and that creates or improves drug delivery systems that make pediatric treatment safer, more effective, and easier to use in real-world settings.

A major theme of the announcement is the development of pediatric-appropriate formulations that children can and will take as intended. That includes addressing practical barriers like unpleasant taste, difficulties swallowing tablets or capsules, the need for flexible dosing that can be adjusted by weight or age, and reducing dosing errors that can happen with liquid medicines. The FOA also explicitly encourages work on novel pediatric drug delivery systems, meaning investigators can propose new ways to administer drugs (or significantly improved versions of existing approaches) that better fit pediatric needs. The emphasis is not only on whether a formulation can be manufactured, but also whether it is acceptable and usable in the target pediatric age group, which often determines whether treatment is successful outside the clinic.

In terms of scientific approach, NIH is signaling openness to innovation and methodological improvements. Applicants are encouraged to explore new concepts in pediatric formulation development and testing, including the use of newly developed techniques that are superior to those currently used in the field. In practice, this points to projects that advance tools, testing paradigms, and design strategies for pediatric dosage forms and delivery systems, rather than simply repeating established adult-focused methods. The announcement supports complementary research needs, which leaves room for a range of project types, as long as they are tightly scoped, well defined, and clearly aligned with pediatric formulation and delivery challenges.

This is an R03 mechanism, which is intended for small, discrete projects that can be completed relatively quickly. The FOA highlights that supported work should be realistic to finish within two years and should require limited funding. The listed award ceiling is $50,000, reinforcing that this opportunity is aimed at pilot studies, feasibility demonstrations, proof-of-concept formulation work, targeted acceptability assessments, or other focused efforts that can produce meaningful results without the scale of a large multi-year program. The activity category is listed under Health, Income Security and Social Services, and the CFDA number provided is 93.865.

Eligibility is broad and includes a wide mix of public, private, nonprofit, and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. In addition, the FOA explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions; Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs); Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Hispanic-serving Institutions; Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs); faith-based or community-based organizations; eligible federal government agencies; regional organizations; non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities (foreign organizations); Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized); and U.S. territories or possessions. This wide eligibility signals an interest in pulling in expertise from many sectors, including institutions that serve underrepresented communities and organizations that may have specialized access to pediatric populations or unique formulation and delivery capabilities.

Key administrative details from the source record include the creation date of March 29, 2017, and an original closing date listed as May 7, 2020. The agency is the National Institutes of Health, and the funding instrument type is a grant. While the record mentions "ExpectedAwards:" without a number provided, the overall structure of the FOA indicates that NIH is looking to fund multiple small projects rather than a single large effort, consistent with the R03 program’s typical role in supporting exploratory, early-stage research.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as a targeted NIH small-grant opportunity for teams that can propose a focused, two-year project to improve pediatric medicines through better dosage forms and better delivery methods, with an emphasis on real pediatric usability and acceptability across age groups and on applying newer, stronger techniques than what has historically been used in pediatric formulation development.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Development of Appropriate Pediatric Formulations and Pediatric Drug Delivery Systems (R03)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-03-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-05-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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