NRx Defense Systems wins $11.2 million DARPA contract for TMS-drug depression trial
The NRx Pharmaceuticals subsidiary will test a single-day TMS protocol combined with NRX-101 for treatment-resistant depression under an FDA-approved trial.
NRx Defense Systems, described in the filing as a subsidiary of NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., entered into a prime contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on September 29, 2026, under which NRx Defense was awarded a contract to conduct the Synaptic Plasticity Augmented Rapid Circuit Stimulation clinical trial1. An 8-K describing the agreement carries a signature block dated October 5, 2026.
The contract terms call for an aggregate value of approximately $11.2 million, of which approximately $6.7 million has been initially obligated by DARPA, with additional funding subject to the availability of appropriations and DARPA's exercise of funding options1. The contract has an 18-month performance period and provides for payment upon the achievement and acceptance of specified program milestones.1
Under the deal's intellectual property terms, NRx Defense retains ownership of inventions conceived or first actually reduced to practice under the contract, while DARPA receives a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license for governmental purposes.1 The contract may be terminated by either party under certain circumstances, including if the program is determined unlikely to achieve its intended objectives.1
The underlying study, known as SPARC-TMS, is designed to evaluate a single-day treatment protocol using robotic neuro-navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation in combination with NRX-101, the company's investigational drug, for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression1. The filing states the clinical trial has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is expected to begin enrolling patients.1 The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under NCT07227103, according to the accompanying press release, and is planned to run at Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital, Arizona State University, and HOPE Therapeutics1, with several leading military hospitals also affiliated with the study1.
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