Nanotech News

August 24, 2006

FDA, NCI, and NIST Sign Memorandum of Understanding

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a partnership in an effort to develop new clinical products through nanotechnology. The announcement was posted in today’s Federal Register. The collaboration will focus primarily on NCI’s Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) and directly related activities.

The MOU, which was signed on June 22, is a three-year agreement that outlines the goals and responsibilities of each party. According to the document, “the Parties agree to collaborate through working groups and steering committees to develop strategic plans, set priorities, and leverage resources and expertise from multiple sources, including the private sector, toward the goal of facilitating the development of nanotechnologies that constitute novel research tools and safer, more effective cancer therapies by establishing a framework for effective risk identification, assessment, and evaluation of emerging products based on nanotechnology.”

To read the Federal Register posting, please click here.