AMRI received a federal contract award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to provide chemistry and other drug discovery technologies to support NINDS’ Medicinal Chemistry for Neurotherapeutics Program (MCNP).

AMRI will begin providing medicinal chemistry services to neuroscientists throughout the U.S. with the goal of efficiently developing preclinical drug candidates suitable for advanced development and ultimately clinical trials in humans. AMRI will receive as much as $43 million in funding for the term of the five-year contract based on the number of approved projects and availability of funds. The initial funding of $10 million applies to the first phase of the project aimed at delivering at least one Phase I trial candidate.

“After a highly competitive, rigorous application process, AMRI was selected for this contract award because of our proven track record on projects of similar scope with a number of global pharmaceutical companies. This significant award demonstrates the NIH’s new focus on helping support the translation of basic research discoveries in areas of unmet medical need to potential drug candidates,” said AMRI’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, Thomas E. D’Ambra, Ph.D.