Waiting for notice of an award can be like watching paint dry. When the funds are critical to your business it is even more painful. We unfortunately have no additional information on the DOE 2009 SBIR Phase II Awards. If you have been notified please let the community know by commenting on this post.
Congress is working hard on legislation to reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs. However, with the program now set to expire on July 31,
2009, it seems that we are right where we were a year ago. The House Small Business Committee is working on several bills, all addressing a different aspect of the program and one that greatly expands Venture Capital (VC) access to the program. The Senate has started work on a bill that would update the program and increase VC eligibility but to a limited extent.
So the question is will the House pass a bill that expands VC access to the SBIR program and to what extent? The Biotechnology Industry Organization is still lobbying for such an expansion. And how will the House and Senate compromise? If they cannot agree on a compromise will another continuing resolution be instated? One opinion on the current process is posted at
SBIR Gateway
In a
press release issued last Tuesday the NIH reported a record number of grants submitted on April 27th in response to the Challenge Grant RFA. Each of the 20,000 applications will be reviewed by 3 scientific reviewers and a summary statement compiled. This process will require more than 18,000 scientists to complete. To put it into perspective the NIH reviews approximately 16,000 applications in each of 3 rounds annually. Each round requires 8,000 reviewers.
The NIH estimates it will review approximately 40,000 applications in direct response to either the Challenge Grant or other ARRA associated funding. This process is going to require more than 28,000 reviewers.
The outcome? Approximately 200 Challenge Grants will be selected and $200 Million awarded.
If you are patiently waiting for your summary statement they are estimated to be available in August. Check your eRA Commons account.
Two new solicitations from the NIH were released yesterday that will be of interest to the bioscience small business community. While only one uses the SBIR R43 funding mechanism the other is open to for-profit entities and those with fewer than 500 employees will be given preference. A few pertinent details on each are described below. I encourage all applicable small businesses to apply.
You will never know if you don't try
Both have a submission date of:
September 1, 2009, 5PM local time
Letters of Intent are not required but encouraged and due on:
August 3, 2008
Discuss your application with an NIH Program Manager prior to composing your proposal.
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to bridge the "valley of death" that occurs between research and development and market launch. This is similar to the NCI's SBIR Bridge Award. Preliminary pre-clinical work is encouraged. If you need to complete activities for regulatory filings such as an IND application these funds are for you.
A Budget of up to $1M in total costs for up to 3 years may be proposed. $35M has been committed to this funding opportunity and the NIH anticipates awarding 10 grants in FY2010.
This funding opportunity uses the SBIR R43 mechanism which means it is only open to small businesses. HIgh-risk, high-return opportunities are encouraged to apply. If you are curious whether your project meets those specifications contact one of the program managers listed in the solicitation (linked above).
A Budget of up to $200K in total costs for up to 1 year may be requested. $5M has been committed to this funding opportunity and 20 to 25 awards are anticipated.
If you are a Georgia company and would like assistance with your proposal please contact us.
At the NIH there are rules governing your allowable indirect cost rate. First time Phase I applicants are allowed to request an indirect cost rate of up to 40% of all direct costs. If you request an indirect cost rate of 25% or less, however, the rate will be granted without further justification. The NIH does not negotiate indirect costs on Phase I proposals. So if you do not have a previously negotiated rate with the federal government you are limited to 40% of all direct costs.
I always recommend first time Phase I applicants request between 25 and 30% in indirect costs. This will cover your most basic indirect costs such as rent and benefits.
SBIR and STTR Phase II NIH applicants are not limited in the amount of indirect costs they can request. Unless you want to provide extensive justification, however, you are only allowed to request an indirect cost rate of 25% or less. Many first time Phase II applicants have been caught up in months of indirect cost rate negotiations. These occur after the notice of grant award which could be 9 or 10 months after submission. In short you could be waiting for over a year to receive funds.
Well the NIH now allows first time applicants to request an indirect cost rate of up to 40% of all direct costs without further justification. This is good news for newbies. Many companies, however, have indirect cost rates much higher than 40% and may still need to request a higher rate. If you do not have a negotiated F&A rate with the federal government just be forewarned that the negotiation process can be lengthy.
To find out how to estimate your indirect cost rate contact SBIR GA!
The Department of Homeland Security has pre-leased topics for their FY09.2 SBIR solicitation. Eight technical areas are represented from pathogen culturing techniques to wearable energy. Topic authors may be contacted prior to May 17, 2009 and the official solicitation opens on May 18th.
Due Date: July 2nd, 2009 – 4 PM!
The complete announcement can be viewed:
For assistance with your application contact SBIR GA!
In response to the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) the NIH has designated at least $200 M in FY 09-10 for a new initiative: NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (RCI grants). These funds will support research in both the biomedical and behavioral fields that address specific scientific and health research challenges. The funds will be awarded to projects that will benefit from a jumpstart in funds over the next two years.
These funds are not subject to the SBIR/STTR set-aside requirement. However, small businesses ARE eligible and encouraged to apply.
Key Dates
Release/Post Date: March 4, 2009
Opening Date: March 27, 2009
Application Due Date: April 27, 2009, 5:00 PM
No letter of intent required
To receive emails from the NIH concerning the Recovery Act please go to:
On Friday the NIH announced the reissue of three funding opportunities applicable to the SBIR community.
- RFA-ES-005 solicits Phase II SBIR applications for the development of environmental sensors for personal exposure assessment.
- PA-09-113 encourages Phase I SBIR applications for the development of technologies related to advanced processing, manufacturing processes, equipment and systems, and manufacturing workforce skills and protection. PA-09-114 is the STTR counterpart.
- PA-09-115 is targeted toward applications that require a longer award period and larger award amount. Specifically technologies that will require FDA approval such a vaccine, biologic or drug delivery system. PA-09-116 is the STTR counterpart.
The first two opportunities highlight interest by the NIH in applications outside of traditional life science. If you are in the business of sensor development or manufacturing processes you may have a technology eligible for funding.
Check out all the current NIH funding announcements at:
“There is no grantsmanship that will turn a bad idea into a good one,
but there are many ways to disguise a good one.”
- Dr. William Raub, Former Deputy Director, NIH
Contact SBIR Georgia for assistance with your proposal.
Are you from a University or FFRDC?
Interested in partnering with a small business on the current DoD STTR solicitation?
Then check out SBIR Gateway's STTR Stimulus Experiment. They are soliciting all Universities and FFRDCs to go to the following webpage, mark which topics are of interest to their line of research and include their contact information. This collection of data will then be available to the small business community as a searchable database. Starting the week of Feb 9th an SBC, or small business concern, will be able to search the database for Universities or FFRDCs interested in a specific topic. Contact information will be provided and a potential match could be made.
So, go check out the following website and see if it's applicable to you.
The SBIR Phase II Bridge Award is intended to augment previously funded NIH-wide SBIR Phase II projects that require additional funding in order to achieve key technical and regulatory milestones along the path toward commercialization.
The next receipt date is February 27, 2009. If you have previously been awarded a Phase II SBIR from the NIH talk to your Program Director about the Bridge Award program.
For more information please see: