National Insititue of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a sub-agency of the National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services, funds biomedical research into arthritis, musculoskeletal disorders, and skin diseases through grants and research contracts focused primarily on academic medical centers and life-sciences vendors.

NIAMS operates a contract portfolio of 2,324 awards totaling $213.6 million in combined potential value, with $192.7 million obligated. Contract volume has declined across the last five years: 137 awards in 2022, 114 in 2023, 133 in 2024, 96 in 2025, and 45 year-to-date in 2026. The agency has 407 distinct prime contractors. Competitive concentration is highly fragmented by potential value — the top five primes hold only 8 percent of combined potential value over the last five years — though award-count concentration is moderately fragmented at 27 percent. Illumina, Inc. leads by count with 42 awards and $7.9 million potential value, followed by 10X Genomics, Inc. with 35 awards and $1.3 million. The remaining long tail of contractors comprises academic medical-supply vendors, staffing firms, and specialized research-equipment suppliers. Nearly all awards (96 percent) are unrestricted; small-business set-asides account for 3 percent, with Woman-Owned Small Business and 8(a) Sole Source designations appearing rarely. About 5 percent of recent awards contain no reported potential value, consistent with Schedule task orders, BPA calls, and below-threshold purchases.

NIAMS administers a dominant grant portfolio of 4,451 awards obligating $9.71 billion in federal dollars and $10.26 billion total (federal plus non-federal cost-share) across 521 distinct recipients. Grant volume shows recent decline: 346 awards in 2023, 324 in 2024, 245 in 2025, 183 in 2026, and 2 year-to-date in 2027. Grant recipients are highly fragmented by federal dollars — the top five hold only 4 percent of obligated federal dollars over the last five years — though award-count concentration is also fragmented at 14 percent. The University of Pennsylvania leads by federal dollars with $114.8 million obligated across 51 awards, followed by the University of California San Francisco at $88.3 million across 41 awards and the General Hospital Corporation at $75 million across 34 awards. Nearly all grants (98 percent) are Project Grants, with Cooperative Agreements comprising 2 percent. Recipients span academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, and university research institutes.

No recent contract or grant opportunities are recorded against NIAMS in the source materials.