21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot
Active
- Assistance listing
- 93.353
- Agency
-
National Institutes of Health
Department of Health and Human Services
- Grant awards
- 203 $1,313,659,508 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Also known as
- moonshot
- Assistance types
-
- Cooperative Agreement
- Project Grant
- Treasury account
-
- 75-0849-0-1-550
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute (NCI) is funding cancer research and development of cancer vaccines, sensitive diagnostic tests, immunotherapy approaches, and combination therapies under CFDA 93.353 (21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot), with the most recent award on September 15, 2025.
The program funds applied cancer research across a broad spectrum of tumor types and mechanisms. Recent awards exemplify the actual scope: lung cancer screening implementation studies testing regional networks and quality improvement systems; myeloma precancer atlases characterizing genomic and microenvironmental alterations across disease evolution; pediatric solid tumor microenvironment atlases investigating therapy resistance mechanisms in rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, and Wilms tumors; pre-cancer atlases of skin cancer and gastric cancer examining immune system interactions and progression pathways; spatial multi-omics profiling of ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers; lymphoma transformation studies; CAR T cell immunotherapy optimization for pediatric brain tumors and sarcomas; personalized neoantigen vaccines for neuroblastoma; bispecific antibody therapeutics for pediatric solid and brain tumors; and implementation science research on tobacco use treatment scale-up, cancer screening in rural and underserved populations, and survivorship care delivery models. The program also supports early-stage technology development including activatable fluorescent probes for intraoperative tumor detection, bioengineered probiotics for drug detoxification, and novel HPV vaccines targeting low- and middle-income countries.
The portfolio is predominantly Cooperative Agreements (131 awards, 65%) with a smaller share of Project Grants (72 awards, 35%). The National Cancer Institute is the sole funder across all 203 awards, obligating $1.31 billion in federal dollars (combined total obligated of $1.41 billion including non-federal cost-share). Recent award cadence shows 5 awards in 2025, 14 in 2024, 9 in 2023, 4 in 2022, and 8 in 2021. Individual award values range from approximately $287 thousand to $10.2 million, with many multi-year cooperative agreements in the $3–10 million range. Mega-awards supporting large atlas and network centers include the Myeloma Multidimensional Precancer Atlas at $10 million, Pediatric Solid Tumor Microenvironment Atlas at $10.2 million, and several pre-cancer atlas projects in the $9–9.5 million range.
No recent grant opportunities are currently open. Historical solicitations under this program and related Moonshot initiatives (RFA-CA-19-001 through RFA-CA-19-055, RFA-CA-20-006, RFA-CA-21-053, RFA-CA-22-014) closed in 2018–2022 and supported U01, U54, U2C, and U24 cooperative agreements as well as P50 and R01 project grants for cancer research, implementation science, patient engagement in genomic sequencing, and immunotherapy networks. The program remains active with recent awards but no open solicitation is advertised in the source material.
Objective and description
- Objective
To provide support for initiatives funded under the 21st Century Cures Act to support cancer research, such as the development of cancer vaccines, the development of more sensitive diagnostic tests for cancer, immunotherapy and the development of com
- Description
To provide support for initiatives funded under the 21st Century Cures Act to support cancer research, such as the development of cancer vaccines, the development of more sensitive diagnostic tests for cancer, immunotherapy and the development of combination therapies, and research that has the potential to transform the scientific field, that has inherently higher risk, and that seeks to address major challenges related to cancer.
Eligibility
- Applicant eligibility
The awardee will be a university, college, hospital, public agency, nonprofit research institution or for-profit organization that applies and receives a grant for support of research by a named principal investigator. To be eligible for funding, a grant application must be approved for scientific merit and program relevance by a scientific review group and a national advisory council.
- Beneficiary eligibility
Any nonprofit or for-profit organization, company, or institution engaged in biomedical research.
- Uses of assistance
Grants and cooperative agreements may be made to eligible institutions for the support of cancer research projects. The grants and cooperative agreements may be used for personnel, consultant costs, equipment, supplies, travel, patient costs, animals, alterations and renovations, miscellaneous items, and Facilities and Administrative Costs (formerly known as indirect costs).
- Length and time phasing of assistance
Grants and Cooperative Agreements: Average 3 to 5 years, and a maximum of 5 years. Renewals may be awarded for additional periods of up to 5 years based on competitive peer review.
How to apply
- Criteria for selecting proposals
Funding decisions are based on scientific merit (42 CFR 52h) and program relevance. Scientific merit review encompasses: the peer review criteria detailed in the specific funding announcement, as well as the significance, approach, and innovation of the proposed research; the competency of the principal investigator; the adequacy of the resources and environment; the proposed budget and requested period of support; and, where applicable, the adequacy of the measures for protecting against adverse effects upon humans, animals, or the environment.
- Award procedure
All applications are evaluated by scientific authorities for scientific and technical merit. Applications must also be reviewed by the National Cancer Advisory Board. All competitive applications compete for available funds on the basis of scientific and technical merit, program relevance, and program balance, consistent with NCI and NIH priorities and strategic plans.
- Time to approval or disapproval
Regular Grants: Approximately 10 months
- Renewals
Applications submitted for renewal are reviewed and selected for funding on a competitive basis.
- Appeals
A principal investigator may question the substantive or procedural aspects of the review of his/her application by communicating with the staff of the Institute. A description of the NIH Peer Review Appeal procedures is available on the NIH home page www.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not97-232.html .
Grant opportunities
Show all 30
Grant awards
Latest 10 of 203 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. | $187,202,157 | 14% |
| 2 | University Of Southern California | $67,972,663 | 5% |
| 3 | The Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania | $55,170,070 | 4% |
| 4 | The Univeristy Of Texas M.d. Anderson Cancer Center | $53,158,076 | 4% |
| 5 | The Washington University | $48,395,146 | 4% |
| 6 | Oregon Health & Science University | $47,463,069 | 4% |
| 7 | The Leland Stanford Junior University | $45,302,565 | 3% |
| 8 | The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia | $45,184,044 | 3% |
| 9 | Yale Univ | $34,911,503 | 3% |
| 10 | Icahn School Of Medicine At Mount Sinai | $34,688,717 | 3% |
10 of 97 recipients listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $10,929,515 |
| FY2025 | $189,910,587 |
| FY2024 | $113,307,555 |
| FY2023 | $208,396,589 |
| FY2022 | $306,348,116 |
| FY2021 | $225,180,694 |
| FY2020 | $119,799,414 |
| FY2019 | $197,298,930 |
| FY2018 | $254,271,955 |
| FY2017 | $145,116,428 |
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 93.353?
Assistance Listing 93.353 is 21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot, a federal grant program run by National Institutes of Health (Department of Health and Human Services).
What is the CFDA number for 21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot?
Its CFDA number is 93.353: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 93.353 awarded?
203 grant awards under 93.353 have obligated $1,313,659,508 in federal funds to 97 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 93.353?
The recipients obligated the most under 21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot are Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. ($187,202,157), University Of Southern California ($67,972,663) and The Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania ($55,170,070).
How much did 93.353 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 93.353 obligated $189,910,587 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
Are there open grant opportunities under 93.353?
2 listed opportunities under 93.353 are open or forecasted. The latest, Successor-in-Interest (Type 6 Parent Clinical Trial Optional), was posted on July 11, 2024.
On GovTribe
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