IIT Research Institute

IIT Research Institute, a non-profit contract research organization and wholly-owned subsidiary of Illinois Institute of Technology based in Chicago, Illinois, operates exclusively as a prime contractor on federal preclinical drug development and toxicology research services delivered to the National Institutes of Health and affiliated agencies without set-aside designations.

IIT Research Institute's federal footprint centers on preclinical research services supporting investigational new drug development across therapeutic areas including oncology, infectious diseases, neurological disorders, and other indications. The organization conducts Good Laboratory Practice and non-GLP toxicology studies in rodent and canine models, dose range-finding evaluations, pharmacokinetic analyses, safety assessments, and efficacy evaluations for small molecule and biologic drug candidates. Recent representative work includes a $3.39 million delivery order from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for SSL GLP and non-GLP toxicology studies awarded June 25, 2026; a $1.89 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for toxicology studies in rats and dogs administered the experimental compound AIT-102 awarded September 16, 2024; and a $512,266 delivery order from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) for preclinical development of NCGC72, a CD206 agonist candidate, awarded September 18, 2024.

Customer concentration is heavily skewed toward NIH institutes. By potential value, NCI dominates with 50 awards worth $663.1 million combined, followed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases with 13 awards worth $607.1 million, NINDS with 6 awards worth $178.8 million, NCATS with awards across multiple vehicles, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response with $249.9 million. These five customer clusters account for 57% of the vendor's combined potential value across all 2,055 awards in the source data. By award count, the portfolio shows heavier distribution: Department of the Air Force places 535 awards, Defense Logistics Agency 504, Department of the Army 248, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense 157, accounting for 74% of total awards—but the dollar concentration diverges sharply, with defense-related work representing a much smaller share of potential value than the NIH ecosystem.

IIT Research Institute holds five major indefinite delivery contract vehicles. A $174.47 million single-award IDIQ with NINDS for the Pharmacology and Toxicology for Therapeutics Program (ultimate completion September 2026) funds non-GLP ADME/pharmacokinetic/toxicology studies, GLP enabling toxicology, and safety pharmacology assessments. A $149.995 million multiple-award IDIQ with NCI for the PREVENT Cancer Preclinical Drug Development Program (ultimate completion January 2029) covers preclinical efficacy evaluation, analytical testing, process development, and toxicological testing of cancer preventive agents. A $146.3 million single-award IDIQ with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for Pre-Clinical Models of Infectious Diseases (ultimate completion July 2031) provides small animal models, non-human primate models, animal replacement/non-traditional models, and specialized reagent generation for infectious disease research. A $48.6 million multiple-award IDIQ with NCATS for Safety Evaluation and Toxicology Studies and Related Services for Drug Development (ultimate completion June 2030) supports in vitro and in vivo exploratory and IND-directed toxicology studies. A $9.8 million single-award IDIQ with NCI for preclinical toxicology of small molecule drugs (ultimate completion September 2029) funds non-GLP and GLP studies in mice and dogs. Collectively, these five vehicles represent over $578 million in ceiling value and serve as the primary ordering vehicles for IIT Research Institute's federal work.

Activity has shown strong recent acceleration. The vendor recorded 4 awards in 2022, 1 in 2023, 13 in 2024, 2 in 2025, and 3 to date in 2026. Only 3 awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months (combined potential value $4.1 million), presenting minimal recompete cliff exposure over that horizon. The combined potential value across all 2,055 awards reaches $3.75 billion, with $1.7 billion obligated to date (45% of combined potential).

Service Contract Inventory data capture limited visibility into IIT Research Institute's invoiced federal services activity above the $150,000 reporting threshold. SCI records show 50 reportable contracts (43 prime, 7 sub records) across FY2022–FY2024. Prime contract invoiced revenue grew from $2 million in FY2022 to $6.1 million in FY2024, with federal FTE delivery scaling from 4.6 FTEs in FY2022 to 12.8 FTEs in FY2024. Government-paid hourly rates on SCI-reportable prime contracts ranged from $71.19 at the 10th percentile to a median of $244.67 per hour and $878.64 at the 90th percentile, reflecting a mix of technical research labor and specialized scientific expertise. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, the average subcontractor hours share was zero, indicating IIT Research Institute delivers preclinical research services through direct employment rather than subcontractor routing.

The vendor subcontracts minimally. Recent sub-award work includes microneutralization assay proficiency testing and clinical sample analysis under the SHEPHERD IDIQ 2021–2026, nonclinical research study design and sample analysis under Battelle Memorial Institute, and vaccine stability testing under Dynport Vaccine Company LLC. A single sub-award under Astrix Technology LLC relates to rapid manufacturing for NCI's Federally Funded Research and Development Center contract. Sub-engagement is negligible against the prime footprint, and the vendor operates as a direct prime contractor to federal agencies rather than as a feeder to larger defense or civilian primes.

IIT Research Institute's corporate structure situates it as a division within Illinois Institute of Technology's Sponsored Research and Programs organization. The parent university holds a separate federal award portfolio (2,055 total awards spanning 1979 to present, $3.75 billion combined potential value) encompassing defense research, training, and technical services beyond the subsidiary's focused preclinical drug development mission. IITRI's specialized capability positioning—sophisticated preclinical toxicology and pharmacokinetics for investigational new drug development—creates minimal direct competition with full-and-open defense or civilian IT contractors and positions it as a critical specialized supplier to the NIH preclinical research ecosystem.