Rational Design of Vaccines Against Hepatitis C Virus (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA AI 25 012

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA AI 25 012

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity titled "Rational Design of Vaccines Against Hepatitis C Virus (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" under Funding Opportunity Number RFA-AI-25-012. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement (U19), which typically means NIH staff will have substantial scientific and programmatic involvement compared with a standard grant. The scientific goal is to build a coordinated consortium of Research Centers that can work in a tightly integrated way to design, optimize, evaluate, and further develop broadly protective hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine concepts with the explicit intention of advancing the most promising candidates toward future clinical evaluation. Although the long-term aim is to enable movement into clinical testing, this particular opportunity explicitly does not allow clinical trials within the scope of the funded activities.

The core purpose of the consortium is rational vaccine design for HCV, emphasizing approaches that can yield broad protection across the virus diversity that has historically complicated vaccine development. In practical terms, the funded Centers are expected to contribute capabilities spanning antigen and immunogen design, iterative optimization, and rigorous preclinical evaluation that builds a compelling evidence package for eventual clinical translation. The framing suggests a pipeline mindset: generate vaccine candidates using modern design principles, refine them based on immunologic and virologic readouts, and establish the preclinical rationale needed to justify and de-risk later clinical studies that would occur outside this NOFO.

This opportunity falls under the Health funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 93.855. It is intended to support multi-component, team-science efforts characteristic of U19 programs, where multiple projects and shared cores are often organized under one coordinated Center structure. Because it is a cooperative agreement, applicants should anticipate ongoing coordination requirements typical of a consortium environment, such as harmonized assays or evaluation standards, collaborative data sharing, and participation in group planning and oversight activities aligned with NIH program priorities.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations: 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 that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The NOFO also explicitly notes additional eligible applicant groups, including eligible agencies of the federal government, faith-based or community-based organizations, Indian/Native American tribal governments other than federally recognized, non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations), regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions. This wide eligibility range aligns with the consortium concept and allows participation from domestic and international groups with specialized HCV expertise, vaccine technology platforms, or unique evaluation capabilities.

Key administrative details include an original application due date of 2025-11-07 and an indicated award ceiling of $2,000,000. The posting lists expected awards as blank, so the number of awards is not specified in the provided source data. The opportunity was created on 2025-09-24. Overall, the NOFO is aimed at accelerating the preclinical-to-translational development path for broadly protective HCV vaccines by funding coordinated Research Centers that can systematically generate and evaluate vaccine candidates, while stopping short of conducting clinical trials under this particular announcement.

• The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rational Design of Vaccines Against Hepatitis C Virus (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.855.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-09-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-11-07. (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 $2,000,000.00 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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