The Department of Defense (DoD), through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), is offering funding under the Fiscal Year 2025 Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) Clinical Trial Award (CTA), identified by the funding opportunity number HT942525PRMRPCTA. This opportunity supports the rapid implementation of clinical trials that aim to significantly impact the treatment or management of conditions listed under the congressionally mandated FY25 PRMRP topic areas and strategic goals. The PRMRP was initiated in 1999 to support medical research with direct relevance to military health and has since funded over $4.19 billion in projects. In FY25, the PRMRP is allocated $150 million, with $32 million earmarked specifically for this Clinical Trial Award mechanism.
The program encourages research involving human subjects to evaluate biomedical or behavioral outcomes of clinical interventions. It explicitly excludes animal studies; all preclinical work must be completed prior to the award start date. Clinical trials eligible for funding include those investigating drugs, devices, non-pharmacological therapies, clinical guidelines, or emerging technologies. The scope ranges from early-phase proof-of-concept studies to large-scale comparative effectiveness trials. Trials must address one FY25 PRMRP topic area and one strategic goal aligned with military health priorities, such as neurological disorders, infectious diseases, rare conditions, respiratory health, and others. The maximum budget is $8 million in total costs for up to 4 years, and approximately four awards are expected.
Eligibility for this award includes both intramural (DoD-affiliated) and extramural (non-DoD) organizations, encompassing academic institutions, research foundations, private companies, and international entities. The Principal Investigator must be at or above the level of Assistant Professor (or equivalent for industry). Each PI may submit only one application to either this CTA or the related Therapeutic/Technology Development Award (TTDA) mechanism. Cost sharing is not a requirement for this opportunity.
The application process includes a mandatory two-step submission: a pre-application via the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) due by 5:00 p.m. ET on June 9, 2025, and a full application due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 21, 2025. Applications are then reviewed through a two-tier process consisting of peer and programmatic reviews. Notification of funding recommendations typically occurs within six weeks of programmatic review completion in December 2025. Verification and correction of application materials must be completed by July 28, 2025. Only one submission per PI is allowed, and failure to meet any component requirements or eligibility criteria may result in administrative withdrawal.
Proposals must contain a range of documents including a project narrative, technical and lay abstracts, a detailed statement of work, data management plans, regulatory strategy documentation, recruitment and safety protocols, and a post-award transition plan. There are also strict formatting, page limits, and submission portals based on organization type—extramural applicants must use Grants.gov, while intramural DoD organizations may use eBRAP. Contact for assistance includes the eBRAP Help Desk (301-682-5507, help@eBRAP.org) and Grants.gov (800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov).
