Cooperative Agreement to Support an Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline for the Prescribing of Benzodiazepines | RFA FD 22 027

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA FD 22 027

The Cooperative Agreement to Support an Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline for the Prescribing of Benzodiazepines (RFA-FD-22-027) is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), cataloged under CFDA 93.103. The core purpose of the award is to support the development of an evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) focused specifically on the safe tapering of benzodiazepines. The opportunity is aimed at producing practical, research-grounded guidance that clinicians and health systems can use to reduce patient risk during benzodiazepine dose reduction and discontinuation, while promoting safer prescribing and patient-centered care.

The project scope is broad and end-to-end: applicants are expected not only to develop the guideline, but also to disseminate it, support its implementation, and evaluate its use and impact. In other words, this is not limited to writing a document; it is structured to move evidence into practice. A competitive application would therefore describe a comprehensive, evidence-based plan that covers how the guideline will be created (such as the evidence review and consensus process), how it will be communicated to intended audiences (clinicians, health systems, possibly patients and caregivers), how adoption will be supported in real-world settings (tools, training, workflows, integration into clinical decision-making), and how the results will be measured (uptake, fidelity, clinical outcomes, safety outcomes, and other implementation metrics).

The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial federal involvement compared with a standard grant. In practical terms, that often means the FDA may collaborate with the awardee during key phases of the work, such as aligning deliverables with federal priorities, ensuring methodological rigor, and helping facilitate dissemination across relevant stakeholders. The activity category is listed under consumer protection, education, science and technology, and other research and development, reflecting the intent to improve medication safety and public health outcomes through applied clinical guidance.

Eligibility is intentionally wide, allowing participation from many sectors that could credibly lead a national or multi-site guideline effort. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. This range suggests the FDA was open to applications from academic medical centers, professional societies, nonprofit guideline developers, health care quality organizations, and other entities with the capacity to manage evidence synthesis, stakeholder engagement, dissemination, and implementation evaluation.

Funding details indicate an award ceiling of $2,000,000 with one expected award, meaning the FDA anticipated selecting a single lead organization to carry out the work at up to that maximum amount. The opportunity was posted June 1, 2022, with an original application closing date of August 3, 2022. Overall, the opportunity reflects a focused federal effort to address safety challenges associated with benzodiazepine tapering by producing a credible, evidence-based clinical practice guideline and ensuring it is actively put into use and assessed in real clinical environments.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration in the consumer protection, education, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement to Support an Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline for the Prescribing of Benzodiazepines" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.103.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 01, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 03, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for RFA FD 22 027

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