Now that SBIR Reauthorization has been passed and signed by the President, many are waiting to see how these new rules will be implemented by each agency. Currently, the rules are in legislative form only, and have not been interpreted by any agency. Many small businesses are specifically interested in the VC eligibility rule, but as it stands, the agencies are only accepting applications from small businesses that comply with the original regulations. Several of the agencies have open solicitations to which you can apply. For more information, please see the links below.
- The Department of Health and Human Services has released it’s 2012 solicitation. Standard submission dates apply: Apr 5, Aug 5, Dec 5.
- The Department of Education has two solicitations available with receipt dates of Feb 13 and Feb 22.
- The Department of Defense has pre-released it’s 2012.A STTR topics. If you are interested in discussing the specific topics with a Program Officer, you must do so prior to the solicitation official release. The final solicitation will be released on Feb 27 and applications are due Mar 28.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology solicitation is available and submissions are due Mar 2.
The process of reauthorizing the SBIR/STTR Program has been, like many other government programs, a long journey. It appears that the House has agreed to the Senate’s modifications for SBIR/STTR reauthorization as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 NDAA. As reported by Rick Shindell of the SBIR Gateway almost 1000 small businesses contacted their Representatives and urged them to agree to the Senate modifications for SBIR/STTR. As the final bill has not yet been authorized we do not have all the details. Here is what is known:
- Reauthorization through 2017.
- Increased Set Aside: SBIR from 2.5% to 3.2%, STTR from 0.3% to 0.45%.
- VC Majority Ownership: Allowable for 25% of awards from NIH, DoE and NSF, 15% of awards from all other agencies.
- Limit on Number of Awards Per Company: Rejected, but language included to monitor a company’s success.
- Agency Administrative Fund: 3% of SBIR funds can be used by the agencies for outreach and administration.
- Phase I Skip: Allowable for NIH, DoD and DoEd, at the agencies discretion.
The National Cancer Institute has announced the release of the 2012 SBIR Phase II Bridge Award program. The award helps bridge the funding gap, known as the “Valley of Death,” that currently exists between the end of the SBIR Phase II award and the next round of financing needed to advance a promising cancer therapy or imaging technology toward commercialization. The program is specifically intended to foster relationships between small business applicants and third-party investors and strategic partners who can help finance their development efforts.
The NCI intends to commit $10 million in fiscal year 2012, covering as many as 10 grants of up to $1 million annually for as long as three years. Development efforts may include preclinical R&D needed for regulatory filings or clinical trials in three project areas:
(1) cancer therapeutics
(2) cancer imaging technologies, interventional devices and in vivo diagnostics
(3) in vitro and ex vivo cancer diagnostics and prognostics
There are two deadlines to submit an SBIR Phase application: December 28, 2011 & March 27, 2012. For more information, visit the National Cancer Institute website.
Applications for the NIH Contract solicitation are due at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Nov. 7. The NIH Contract solicitation is released only once yearly, and contains a list of topics pertinent to each agencies mission. Unlike the grant solicitation, contracts are for specific work on a topic that has been pre-defined. Topics available in this year’s solicitation range from Wireless Telemetry for MRI to Rapid Point-of-Care tests for Fungal Diagnosis. Topics are highly specific and only proposals matching the published topics will be accepted; no investigator-initiated applications will be allowed. Budgets are also strictly enforced, and are limited to $150,000 for a Phase I and $1M for a Phase II. And, unlike other applications to the NIH, this solicitation must be submitted in paper form and received, as verified by time stamp, at the agency by the deadline above. Detailed information, including program contacts, detailed topic descriptions, and instructions for preparing proposals, are available in the solicitation.
Participating agencies, with the approximate number of contracts each expects to award:
NIH: National Cancer Institute (37); National Center for Research Resources (1-2); National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (18 – 29); National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism 2-4); National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (1); National Institute on Drug Abuse (15 – 21).
Centers for Disease Control: Center for Global Health (2); National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (1); National Center for Emerging Zoonotic & Infectious Diseases (2); National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, SDT, & TB Prevention (3) ; Office of Public Health Preparedness & Response (1).
Proposals will be reviewed between February and June 2012, with award dates between July and September 2012, depending on the awarding unit (see the solicitation for details).
The Department of Defense is the largest agency participating in the SBIR program with an annual fund exceeding $1 billion. Their third SBIR solicitation, 2011.3, was preleased on July 28th. Technologies outlined in this solicitation range from Controlled Released Anti-Microbials to Advanced Propellants. Importantly, all applications must address a specific topic as laid out in the solicitation. No investigator-initiated applications are accepted. Potential applicants can discuss topics with program officers until Aug. 28, and proposals will be accepted from Aug. 29 through Sept. 28.
The solicitation consists of the main set of instructions and a document from each participating DoD component (the Army, Navy, DARPA, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense). Each document discusses the topics as well as any specific submission requirements of the participating DoD component. The specific requirements supersede the general requirements, so be sure to read all carefully. For example, the Army limits the technical proposal to 20 pages rather than the 25 pages called for in the overall solicitation. Anything over 20 pages submitted to the Army will be considered non-compliant and will not be evaluated.
In addition to reading the documents carefully, we suggest you subscribe to the listserv (link at the bottom of the main solicitation page) to get information on any updates issued.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new SBIR solicitation, with applications due in mid-September. Until the Funding Opportunity Announcement is officially posted in early August, potential applicants may contact the Technical Topics Managers to discuss the topics.
In an effort to improve commercialization outcomes of the funded projects, the DOE has made several changes to the SBIR/STTR program, which includes adjusting the solicitation release policy, commercialization emphasis and award dollars. Effective with this solicitation, the DOE will now release two solicitations each year. The first will contain topics from the Office of Science, and the second will feature topics from the remaining DOE program offices. Topics will be posted in advance of the issuance of the full solicitation and letters of intent will be required in advance of full proposals, so applicants must plan ahead.
The DOE is also increasing the emphasis on commercialization plans in both Phase I and Phase II. Phase I proposals lacking commercialization plans will be declined without technical proposal review. Phase II commercialization applications will be rated independently of technical merit, and those that receive poor scores on their commercialization plans will not be funded, even if they receive high technical scores. And finally, STTR award amounts will increase to $150,000 for Phase I and to $1 million for Phase II, consistent with maximum SBIR awards. These changes are all detailed in a letter from Manny Oliver, Director of the SBIR/STTR Programs Office within the Department of Energy.
July 29 webinar to discuss changes
The Center for Innovative Technology’s Federal Funding Assistance Program is hosting a July 29th seminar on these changes from 1 to 2:30 p.m. EDT. The featured speaker is Carl Hebron, the DOE’s SBIR/STTR Program Coordinator. The webinar is free, but attendance is limited. You can sign up here.
For more information, review our online resources or join us at an SBIR Circle, held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in ATDC room 207 at Technology Square, 75 Fifth St NW.
NASA, one of the largest players in the SBIR/STTR funding pool, has opened the 2011 SBIR/STTR solicitation for Phase I projects. Proposals are due September 8. The maximum value of Phase I awards has been increased to $125,000. According to NASA, the acceptance rate for both SBIR and STTR proposals is 8:1, with 45 percent of those selected for Phase I also being selected for follow-on Phase II awards. Topics include specific areas within aeronautics research, exploration systems, space operations and planet & space science. The topic list is included in the solicitation. Remember to read the solicitation carefully and make sure you meet all the checklist requirements. For more information, review our online resources or join us at an SBIR Circle, held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in ATDC room 207 at Technology Square, 75 Fifth St NW.
On March 4th the NSF has released their second FY-2011 SBIR solicitation. Topics included in this solicitation are:
Phase I awards of up to $150,000 for 6 months are allowed and it is anticipated that 150 awards will be made. (Pending available funds)
The NSF is a leader in funding cutting edge R&D with real potential for commercialization. In other words, you need to be developing a product for an identified market, not simply investigating a new idea. Part of the NSF research proposal is a commercialization plan. In this section of the application they want you to describe the competition and market landscape, and even estimate your anticipated market share. Letters of Support from commercialization partners are encouraged and will strengthen your application.
The NIH has released a Special Announcement SBIR Solicitation targeting the development of medical technologies to reduce health disparities. This topic was originally released in 2009, and reissued in 2010. Phase I grants for up to $200,000 per year for up to two years are allowed. This is an increase from the standard $150,000 per 6 to 12 months.
This solicitation is designed to fund companies developing medical technologies that are both easily accessible, as well as affordable. Products such as non-invasive diagnostics, in-home monitoring or telehealth technologies would be appropriate. You can read the entire announcement here. Please note that a letter of intent is required by April 20th and the first receipt date is May 20th.
The two day Error Correction Window for NIH, AHRQ and NIOSH grant applications has been eliminated as of January 25, 2011. Your SBIR/STTR applications must be submitted and error free by 5PM your local time on April 5th and for all future deadlines. Applicants still will be able to view their application and reject and submit a corrected application prior to the submission deadline. Submit early!
The Error Correction Window was originally implemented in late 2005 to facilitate transition from paper to electronic submission of grant applications. All late applications will now be subject to the NIH late policy and may not be accepted for review. Any post-submission application materials will be subject to the new policy detailed in the NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-10-115. NIH will continue to make accommodations for Federal system issues that threaten or prevent on-time submission of an individual application, if appropriately documented and verified by NIH support staff.
See the full notice at the NIH website.