BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

TRND take two

December 15, 2011 8:00 AM UTC

With 14 projects in place, the NIH's Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program has a full plate. Now, the program will shift focus from finding projects to building infrastructure and advancing compounds into the clinic.

In May 2009, NIH spent $24 million to launch Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND), with the goal of advancing the preclinical development of compounds.1 Since its inception, TRND has started a total of 15 projects-5 pilot projects initially, followed by 4 projects in July2 and 6 projects last month. Thus far, only one pilot project has been discontinued. Eight projects involve at least one biotech company...