Therapeutics Pipeline Program

The Therapeutics Pipeline Program is a grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research that funds pre-clinical and clinical development of novel therapeutic approaches targeting the prevention, slowing, or symptomatic treatment of Parkinson's disease. Award amounts range from $250,000 for targeted projects to more than $2 million for multi-stage preclinical or clinical programs, with funding periods of 1 to 3 years.

The program is open to industry partners and industry-academia collaborations worldwide. Pre-proposals can be submitted at any time and are reviewed within three weeks; invited applicants then submit full proposals through one of six annual review cycles, with the next full proposal deadline on June 25, 2026.

MJFF prioritizes projects with strong biological rationale, differentiation from existing therapies, and clear translational biomarker strategies. Large-scale target identification screens and dietary supplement studies are not eligible.

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Hit enter to search or ESC to close Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program This program seeks to advance therapeutic development through pre-clinical and/or clinical testing of approaches addressing unmet needs of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

The program is set up to benefit therapeutics with clear potential to prevent, stop, or delay disease progression or to reduce the burden of daily symptoms. Funding will support projects aimed at: Pre-Clinical: Identifying, validating and/or developing novel pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions through pre-clinical development from early screening to pre-clinical characterization and testing.

Clinical: Progressing promising interventions with strong pre-clinical packages into/through initial clinical assessment exploring pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, safety/tolerability, or early proof of biology and/or clinical efficacy.

For novel targets, MJFF is particularly interested in de-risking programs by supporting early proof of concept in patients to gain insight into the therapeutic potential, including exploration of biomarker-based or clinical endpoint-based efficacy. MJFF will prioritize projects with the strongest therapeutic rationale, patient value and preclinical-to-clinical translation potential.

Proposals should also fulfill the following criteria: The selected therapeutic target or mechanism should have strong biological rationale to be pursued as a therapeutic target for PD, such as a genetic link or based on prior validation data in relevant in vitro and/or in vivo models.

The proposed therapeutic approach is sufficiently differentiating from and believed to be superior to any of the currently existing therapies in the market or in development.

The proposal emphasizes how translational biomarkers will be used to monitor target engagement/modulation and hypothesized mechanism of action, as well as consideration of patient enrichment measures that can improve clinical trial design to de-risk further development. For applications proposing clinical testing, the proposal has a patient-centered approach incorporating patient voice in the clinical development plan.

For this program, MJFF will not consider: Applications seeking to identify new intervention targets (e.g., large-scale screening or genomic/transcriptomic analyses). Applications seeking to validate a target with only tool compounds or biological manipulations that have no viable path for further drug optimization and development.

Applications seeking to test reformulation of commercially available drugs via a new route of administration. Application seeking to assess efficacy of dietary supplements. The goal of this program is to increase the chances of moving therapies toward the clinic.

To expedite the process, only industry and academia-industry partnerships in and outside the United States are welcome to apply. Applicants are permitted to submit multiple unique submissions but should NOT submit multiple pre-proposals supporting different stages or aspects of the same therapeutic development program.

Applicants are also permitted and encouraged to re-submit a revised pre-proposal that addresses prior feedback provided by MJFF, if applicable. The program will be divided into two stages with the goal of offering applicants frequent opportunities to propose novel and promising PD therapeutics: Applicants may submit a pre-proposal application at any time. Pre-proposals will be reviewed by MJFF within three weeks of submission.

This stage is your first and best opportunity to determine if MJFF is the right partner for you. Applicants whose pre-proposal is selected for further consideration will be invited to submit a full proposal through one of the five review cycles (see full proposal due dates to the right). MJFF staff will work with applicants to define the most flexible and fastest option for review.

Invited applicants will have the opportunity to consult with MJFF on proposal development. Funding decisions will be communicated within three months of full proposal submission. MJFF offers calls to discuss the full proposal development for those invited to submit.

For questions about the application process or project suitability for this call for applications, please email grants@michaeljfox. org . The Therapeutics Pipeline Program is only open to industry and industry-academia collaborations.

Pre-clinical Application Process 1. Download the RFA overview and pre-clinical application template . 2.

Log in or create an account in the grant application portal . 3. Submit your complete application.

Clinical Application Process 1. Download the RFA overview and clinical application template . 2.

Log in or create an account in the grant application portal . 3. Submit your complete application.

Funding Schedule for 2026 Full Proposal Due: October 9, 2025 Anticipated Award Announcement: January 2026 Full Proposal Due: December 11, 2025 Anticipated Award Announcement: March 2026 Full Proposal Due: February 22, 2026 Anticipated Award Announcement: May 2026 Full Proposal Due: April 23, 2026 Anticipated Award Announcement: July 2026 Full Proposal Due: June 25, 2026 Anticipated Award Announcement: September 2026 Full Proposal Due: August 20, 2026 Anticipated Award Announcement: November 2026 Funding Schedule for 2025 Full Proposal Due: October 3 , 2024 Anticipated Award Announcement: January 2025 Full Proposal Due: January 16, 2025 Anticipated Award Announcement: April 2025 Full Proposal Due: March 27, 2025 Anticipated Award Announcement: July 2025 Full Proposal Due: June 5, 2025 Anticipated Award Announcement: August 2025 Full Proposal Due: August 7, 2025 Anticipated Award Announcement: October 2025 1 to 2 years for pre-clinical programs 2 to 3 years for clinical programs Award Amount : Award amounts for this program may range from $250,000 for smaller, targeted programs to upwards of $2M for larger, multi-stage preclinical and/or clinical programs Get the latest news and resources directly to your inbox.

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