[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 73 (Tuesday, April 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18306-18307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07795]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Request for Information on Input on Opportunities of Engagement 
of External Stakeholders With the ``Illuminating the Druggable Genome'' 
(IDG) Program

SUMMARY: NIH seeks input from the biomedical research community, 
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and other members of the 
public on interest and opportunities of engagement with the 
Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) Program. The purpose of this 
Request for Information (RFI) is to identify and obtain comments on 
strategies for sharing potential data, tools, and other resources of 
common interest generated by the IDG Program and by external 
stakeholders to maximize the impact of the IDG Program.

DATES: The IDG Program Request for Information is open for public 
comment for a period of 30 days. Comments must be received by May 18, 
2017 to ensure consideration. After the public comment period has 
closed, the comments received by the IDG Program will be considered in 
a timely manner by the National Center for Advancing

[[Page 18307]]

Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Institute of Diabetes 
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

ADDRESSES: Submissions may be sent electronically to [email protected] or by mail to Dr. Karlie Sharma, National Center for 
Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 6701 
Democracy Blvd., Suite 900, Bethesda, MD 20892.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about this request for 
information should be directed to Dr. Karlie Sharma, National Center 
for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 
6701 Democracy Blvd., Suite 900, Bethesda, MD 20892, [email protected], 301-451-4965.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Out of the nearly 30,000 genes in the human 
genome, approximately 3,000 genes are estimated to be part of the 
druggable genome--the subset of genes expressing proteins with the 
ability to bind drug-like molecules. Yet, only about ten percent of 
druggable proteins are targeted by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-
approved drugs. Many proteins that comprise the druggable genome are 
members of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), ion channel, and 
kinase families. A significant number of proteins within these classes 
are understudied and are the focus of the data and resource generation 
initiative of the IDG Program.

1. Goals and Requirements

    The IDG Program was originally funded as a three-year pilot program 
in 2014 with two overarching goals: (1) Integrate information about 
understudied druggable proteins from disparate sources into a single 
informatics site and (2) foster technology development to enable the 
determination of function and therapeutic potential of understudied 
druggable proteins. Having successfully achieved these goals, the IDG 
Program is currently transitioning to a new implementation phase 
intended to:
     Expand the informatics tools developed in the pilot phase 
to include additional data and allow users to access, analyze, and 
visualize a wide range of information on sets of proteins.
     Facilitate the elucidation of the function of understudied 
proteins from the three key druggable protein families (GPCR, ion 
channels, and kinases) by generating new reagents and new data.
     Disseminate the IDG-generated resources and data to the 
greater scientific community.

2. Information Requested

    NIH is seeking input from national and international experts and 
interested members of the public that includes, but is not limited to, 
the following areas:
     Resources that an outside organization (biotechnology or 
pharmaceutical company; non-profit organization; academic institution 
and national/international consortia) might be willing to share with 
the IDG Program and may:
[cir] Strategize development of chemical probes against proteins drawn 
from the IDG focused list
[cir] develop assays and platforms that can help to answer questions 
about understudied protein function
[cir] identify reagents that may be useful in annotation efforts
[cir] provide data or knowledge on any understudied protein
     Potential resources of the IDG Program that are of 
interest to an outside organization of the broader biomedical research 
community including:
[cir] Sharable databases of relevant subsets of data on understudied 
proteins
[cir] data analysis and query tools
[cir] links between protein target and disease pathologies
[cir] new methods of analysis to accelerate collection of data
    This RFI is for planning purposes only and should not be construed 
as a solicitation for applications or proposals, or as an obligation in 
any way on the part of the United States Federal government. The 
Federal government will not pay for the preparation of any information 
submitted or for the government's use. Additionally, the government 
cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the information provided.

    Dated: April 12, 2017.
Christopher P. Austin,
Director, NCATS.
Griffin P. Rodgers,
Director, NIDDK, Illuminating the Druggable Genome Program, National 
Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institute of 
Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
[FR Doc. 2017-07795 Filed 4-17-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4140-01-P