The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded a $646,413 R01 project grant under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) to Baylor College of Medicine to conduct preclinical drug development studies. The goal is to create potent, selective, and metabolically stable inhibitors of the serine/threonine kinase 33 (STK33) protein as a foundation for non-hormonal male contraceptive drugs. The specific aims are to: 1) use DNA-encoded chemistry technology and medicinal chemistry to discover more advanced STK33 inhibitors, 2) assess the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, and safety of the inhibitors in mice and non-human primates, and 3) evaluate the contraceptive effects of optimized STK33 inhibitors in animal models. Baylor College of Medicine is collaborating with the University of Münster in Germany on this project, which has been awarded a $92,648 subgrant to support the evaluation of the inhibitors in non-human primates.