The NIH has earmarked $280 million over the next four years for nine institutions involved in small molecule screening programs to advance the use of chemical probes in researching new medicines. "This network marks a new era in academic and government research as NIH-funded scientists will have access to the tools for rapidly screening hundreds of thousands of small molecules against many novel biological assays at lower costs than previously possible," NIH Director Elias Zerhouni said in a statement. NIH release