The Treat FTD Fund

Treat FTD Fund

Funds early-stage clinical studies for frontotemporal dementia, including prevention trials for high-risk participants.

Eligibility · Global — open worldwide

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Treat FTD Fund is a joint clinical-trials funding program operated by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), addressing the critical shortage of interventional studies for frontotemporal degeneration disorders — a rare disease cluster affecting approximately 50,000 to 60,000 Americans with no approved disease-modifying treatment. The fund supports early-stage clinical trials including Phase 0, Phase 1, and Phase 2 studies, as well as prevention trials in presymptomatic at-risk individuals. Applicants must have completed or be near completion of IND-enabling studies; early discovery work is out of scope. Proposals must contain clear, testable hypotheses and explicit go/no-go decision points.

Awards reach up to $2,500,000 over one to three years, with payment structured around milestone achievement and patient enrollment. Co-funding from other agencies or investors is encouraged. Eligible applicants worldwide include academic medical centers, universities, nonprofits, and biotechnology companies — both established and startups. ADDF's venture-philanthropy model applies: ROI is negotiated as equity, convertible notes, or royalties tied to scientific and business milestones. Applications undergo confidential review by an FTD expert panel.

For the 2026 cycle, the Letter of Intent stage has already closed; invited full proposals — which must include a clinical trial protocol, detailed budget, team biosketches, and applicable business documents — are due June 1, 2026. Only invited applicants should submit full proposals. Applications are made through addf.fluxx.io. Contacts are Nicole Bjorklund at AFTD and Aaron Burstein at ADDF. Teams building strong applications are advised to consult collaborative resources including the ALLFTD longitudinal consortium and the FTD Disorders Registry.