Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

The Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a sub-agency within the civilian Department of Health and Human Services, administers federal grant programs to support drug development, regulatory science, and pharmaceutical industry collaboration initiatives. The agency has obligated $464.5 million in federal grant funding across 254 awards since 2011, with recent activity declining: 23 awards in 2021, 26 in 2022, 22 in 2023, 20 in 2024, and 6 year-to-date in 2025. The most recent grant award closed on September 25, 2025.

Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented. Over the last five years, the top five recipients account for 22 percent of recent awards by count and 7 percent of federal dollars obligated. The Critical Path Institute leads by award count with 6 recent awards totaling $3.7 million in federal support, followed by the Regents of the University of Michigan and Duke University, each with 3 awards ($8.7 million and $10.9 million respectively). The remaining 115 grant recipients across the portfolio history are dispersed across academic institutions, nonprofits, and professional associations, with no single entity capturing outsized federal share.

The FDA's grant portfolio is dominated by Cooperative Agreements, which constitute 93 percent of all awards (236 of 254). Project Grants make up the remaining 7 percent (18 awards). This structure reflects the agency's emphasis on collaborative relationships with external partners rather than unilateral research funding.

No recent grant opportunities are identified in the source data. Parties pursuing FDA funding should monitor the agency's grant portal and Federal Register notices for notices of funding opportunity, as the current award pace and opportunity publication cadence are not available from the source.