IIT Research Institute

IIT Research Institute, a nonprofit contract research organization and wholly-owned subsidiary of Illinois Institute of Technology based in Chicago, delivers preclinical drug development and toxicology research services exclusively as a prime contractor to the National Institutes of Health ecosystem and affiliated federal agencies, operating without set-aside designations and competing on full and open basis across all prime awards.

IIT Research Institute's federal footprint splits sharply between two customer bases that drive materially different contract patterns. The National Institutes of Health institutes dominate by potential value: the National Cancer Institute leads with 50 awards worth $663 million combined potential value, followed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (13 awards, $607.1 million), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (8 awards, $181.1 million), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Together, these NIH customers account for 57% of combined potential value across all 2,057 awards tracked in the portfolio. By award count, however, the Department of the Air Force (535 awards) and Defense Logistics Agency (504 awards) dominate, though their individual task orders carry much smaller values. Office of the Secretary of Defense and Navy Air Warfare Center round out the top five by count. This divergence signals that IITRI sustains a large volume of small supporting orders for defense logistics and supply-chain work while anchoring its highest-value efforts in NIH preclinical research.

IITRI's core capability sits in Good Laboratory Practice and non-GLP toxicology studies, dose range-finding evaluations, pharmacokinetic analyses, and safety assessments for small molecule and biologic drug candidates across oncology, infectious diseases, neurological disorders, and other therapeutic areas. Recent representative work includes a $3.39 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in June 2026 for GLP and non-GLP toxicology studies; a $1.89 million order from the National Cancer Institute in September 2024 for toxicology studies in rats and dogs on the experimental compound AIT-102; and a $10.4 million delivery order from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December 2021 for preclinical microbiological, safety, toxicology, and pharmacokinetic services supporting COVID-19 research.

IITRI holds five major single-award and multiple-award indefinite-delivery contracts with NIH institutes totaling over $578 million in ceiling value. The largest is a $149.995 million multiple-award PREVENT Cancer Preclinical Drug Development Program IDIQ with the National Cancer Institute (award date January 25, 2024, ultimate completion January 24, 2029) covering preclinical efficacy evaluation, analytical testing, process development, and toxicological testing of cancer preventive agents. A $146.3 million single-award indefinite-delivery contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (July 15, 2024, expiring July 14, 2031) covers pre-clinical models of infectious diseases, including small animal models, non-human primate models, and specialized reagent generation. A $48.622 million multiple-award vehicle with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (June 20, 2024, expiring June 19, 2030) funds in vitro and in vivo exploratory and IND-directed toxicology studies. Additional vehicles include a $9.84 million single-award contract with the National Cancer Institute for preclinical toxicology of small molecule drugs and a $174.5 million Pharmacology and Toxicology for Therapeutics Program with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Task-order activity under these vehicles has accelerated in recent years, with 13 awards in 2024 and ongoing orders through 2026.

Activity trajectory shows substantial growth in NIH-directed work. Contract awards under the major NIH vehicles increased from a single award in 2023 to 13 in 2024 and 5 through September 2026. Defense-side activity (Air Force, DLA, Army) shows consistent but lower velocity year over year. The recompete cliff over the next twenty-four months is minimal: only four awards with ultimate completion dates in that window carry combined potential value of $5.9 million, indicating that IITRI's major IDIQs are well-positioned through their extended expiration dates and face no imminent mass recompete exposure.

Service Contract Inventory data covering federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold shows IITRI invoiced $14.7 million across its prime contracts in FY2022–FY2025, with FY2024 peak at $6.1 million. SCI-reported FTE delivery grew from 4.6 FTEs in FY2022 to 13.3 FTEs in FY2025. Government-paid hourly rates on federal services contracts span from $71.19/hr at the 10th percentile to a median of $244.67/hr and $878.64/hr at the 90th percentile, reflecting a mix of technical labor and senior scientific roles. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, IITRI self-performed 100% of reported work with zero subcontractor involvement, consistent with its direct-employment delivery model. As a prime contractor, IITRI holds no reported subcontractor relationships on federal contracts in the source data; it subcontracts only as a named sub to primes including Astrix Technology LLC, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Dynport Vaccine Company LLC on vaccine development and biodefense research work.

IITRI operates as a standalone entity within its parent organization, Illinois Institute of Technology, drawing on the university's research infrastructure and reputation while maintaining separate contracting authority and direct federal relationships. The organization conducts all preclinical research work through direct employment at its Chicago facility rather than through subcontractor networks, positioning it as a specialized, vertically integrated supplier to the NIH ecosystem rather than a general-purpose research prime.