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.
Cardlytics, an ATDC company offering targeted, trackable deals through financial institutions, recently closed an $18 million Series B round led by ITC holdings and Kinetic Ventures. Previous investors Canaan Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and Total Technology Partners also participated. Cam Lanier of ITC will join the Cardlytics board and Nelson Chu of Kinetic will become a board observer.
The success of Cardlytics is exciting but not surprising. In the fall of 2008, Scott Grimes and Lynne Laube proposed an idea that would enable banks and merchants to provide rich rewards to customers based on their individual purchase behavior. Like a personalized GroupOn-type deal delivered via online bank statements, Cardlytics enables retailers to run offers in consumers’ transactions statements targeted against actual debit or credit card purchases. Cardlytics then tracks all redemptions, whether online or in store. Merchants do not pay for distribution, clicks, or customer intelligence, only sales.
The Cardlytics concept and exceptional founders have lived up to their potential, generating customer response rates up to 20 times more effective than traditional advertising. Stay tuned. This remarkable success story is warming up and could be very big by the time Scott and Lynne are finished.
CRE Secure, which provides a cloud-based secure payment solution for online merchants announced this week that they have secured $3.18 million in funding. The round was led by Atlanta based Total Technology Venture. Miller Capital Partners and several angel investors participated.
CRE Secure, led by CEO Greg McGraw and a strong team, has a patent-pending technology called HTML Clone. HTML Clone enables online merchants to host their customers’ credit card transactions in a secure, PCI-compliant data center and integrates payment networks. This creates a short and easy path for merchants seeking PCI Compliance.
CRE Secure’s funding is continuing evidence that the Atlanta financial services cluster is continuing to flourish.
Venture Atlanta, where Georgia’s top technology companies meet top-tier investors, is seeking companies to present at its 2010 conference taking place on October 12 – 13 at the Georgia Aquarium. More than 20 Georgia companies will be selected to speak. There will also be a trade show-style showcase to highlight 25 additional earlier stage companies. Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to pitch their companies to more than 100 investors.
Notable companies that used Venture Atlanta as part of their fundraising process in past years include CloudSherpas, ControlScan, PlayOn Sports, Purewire, RentWiki, SoloHealth, Vertical Acuity, and WorthPoint. The video has testimonials from the leaders of a few of these companies.
There is no charge to apply to present or to present your company. Entrepreneurs interested in presenting at Venture Atlanta need to submit a two page executive summary by August 20th.
Despite the challenging times for bioscience funding, two ATDC companies successfully raised funds to complete clinical trials and expand footprint respectively.
CardioMEMS Inc., which is developing an implantable device to measure and transmit pulmonary artery pressure, has raised $37.9 million in additional capital. The funds give the Atlanta-based vendor capital to complete a clinical trial of its heart failure pressure management system, called CHAMPION, with 550 patients through 65 heart centers in the U.S. The trial started in 2007 with results expected this summer. The device is a wireless high-frequency sensor implanted in the artery using a catheter-based procedure based on proprietary technology from Georgia Tech. The pressure is measured and displayed on a monitoring system. Following the procedure, patients perform wireless measurements of the pulmonary artery pressure from home. The data is transmitted to a secure database for physician review on a proprietary Web site.
SoloHealth, Inc has raised $660,000 in additional capital. Founded in 2007, the company offers self-directed health-care services. Its first product, EyeSite, is an interactive, self-service, vision-testing kiosk that provides consumers with a free assessment of their vision, information about common eye health conditions and referrals to local eye care practitioners. As of March this year, SoloHealth had nearly 100 EyeSite kiosks in seven U.S. markets — including Atlanta ; Houston ; Richmond , Va. ; and Charlotte , N.C. — and will add three cities this year while enhancing the kiosks’ technology.
With ATDC’s expanded bioscience catalyst team we are available to work with all bioscience companies, from concept to market.
Together with Georgia Bio, ATDC will be hosting a workshop, tomorrow 5/11, to discuss the “nuts-and-bolts” of the Therapeutic Discovery Project Credit. Lined up to join our panel session are Russ Medford of Salutria Pharmaceuticals, Russ Plum of Inhibitex, Katherine Breaks of KPMG, Bill Kitchens of Arnall, Golden and Gregory, Robert Craig an Executive Consultant, and Jeff Trent of Paradigm Partners.
These panel members will bring a wealth of experience on the topic. Several panelists have had direct working experience with the similar 48 sec C Advanced Energy Credit and will be able to provide specifics on how the program may unfold. Russ Medford, CEO of Salutria Pharmaceuticals, was integral in working with BIO to lobby directly for the legislation, and Russ Plum, CEO of Inhibitex, has been interviewing consultants to assist Inhibitex is applying for the Project Credit.
This two hour working session will consist mostly of Question and Answer. So join us tomorrow on the 3rd floor of 75 5th Street, NW, and be ready to ask our panelists your specific questions.
When the Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3590) was passed on March 23, 2010 it included a Tax Credit or Cash Grant for qualifying small businesses developing therapeutics, molecular diagnostics or delivery vehicles. This tax credit will reimburse eligible companies for 50% of all expenditures spent on a Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project during calendar year 2009 and 2010 or fiscal year 2010 or 2011.
The most compelling part of this legislation is the ability to exchange the tax credit for a cash grant. Many small biotech and pharma companies do not have a tax liability and would not benefit from a tax credit. The cash grant option will allow more companies to receive an immediate return.
For example, a $1 million qualified investment will lead to either a $500,00 tax credit or $500,000 check.
The program solicitation will be released by the Department of Treasury, IRS on or before May 21st, 2010. Applications will be be due within 30 days and funds disseminated beginning mid-June.
While the mechanics of the program will be described by the IRS, qualified projects will selected by the Department of Health and Human Services. All eligible companies should receive some assistance, but it is currently not clear how the proposals will be judged and selected, and whether there will be a maximum allocation per project and/or per company.
What we do know:
A Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (Sec 9023 or H.R.3590) includes:
Therapeutics designed to treat or prevent diseases or conditions (investments made in R&D to further a 505(b) or 351(a) application to the FDA).
Molecular diagnostic products to be used in direct diagnosis, or in determining molecular factors related to the disease.
Therapeutic delivery or administration vehicles.
Specifically excluded from this legislation are projects for the development of medical devices. However, we will not know until May 21st whether a medical device used in the delivery or administration of a therapeutic would be considered a qualifying project.
In addition to the above qualifying criteria, selected projects will also result in new therapies, reduce long-term healthcare costs or advance the cure for cancer AND have the greatest potential to result in high-paying job creation and retention, and advance the competitiveness of the U.S. in the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences.
The legislation was modeled after a similar program distributed by the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit distributed by the Department of Energy. We anticipate that a similar process will be followed which could include:
A 1 page preliminary application due within 30 days of the solicitation release.
A final application due within 60 days of solicitation including an executive summary, scientific eligibility criteria, selection criteria including job creation/retention and U.S. competitiveness, as well as a spreadsheet detailing costs incurred.
If you are attending the 2010 BIO International Convention, a session held on May 5th from 2:00 to 3:30 will provide additional information.
The Department of Defense pre-released its 2010.1 SBIR Topics this morning. The solicitation will be open to proposal submission from December 10, 2009 at 6AM ET through January 13, 2010 6AM ET.
You may directly contact the Topic Manger (listed with the topic) to ask technical questions/clarification prior to December 10th. After this date, your questions and the responding answers will be made public on the website. The DOD is looking for specific solutions to their specific problems A clear understanding of the full problem, mission of the unit needing the solution, and the role of any prime contractors already involved in the solution can be critical information necessary for an effective proposal. Be sure to take advantage of this time to ask questions while you have a competitive advantage.
The DOD components with topics in this solicitation are:
Army
Navy
Air Force
CBD
DARPA
DARTA
SOCOM
Each component has its own set of instructions, so be sure to read the DOD’s the full solicitation and the component’s specific instructions.
The DOD has its own DOD SBIR search engine to search for topics specifically in this solicitation. All proposals will be submitted through the DODSBIR.net system.
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, pre-issued its 2010.1 SBIR Solicitation. The full solicitation will be released on November 18th and the agency will accept proposals until 4:30 PM on January 4th. Phase I Awards are up to $100,000.
Topic titles for this solicitation are:
H-SB010.1-001Rechargeable, High Efficient, High Capacity Energy Storage
H-SB010.1-002 Rare Variant Detection Using Next Generation Sequencing Technology
H-SB010.1-003 Precision Information Environments
H-SB010.1-004 Molecular Recognition for Explosives Detection
H-SB010.1-005 Synthetic Biometrics
H-SB010.1-006 GPS Resolution in Denied Location (GRIDLOC)
For full topic descriptions and the contact information of the Technical Points of Contact (TPOC) for each topic, please read the full solicitation. Proposers are encouraged to contact the TPOC before November 17th to ask technical questions not clearly stated in the topic description (proposers may not ask for advice or guidance on its solution approach, nor submit additional material). No direct contact may be made with the TPOC after this date.
Proposals will be submitted through the DHS’ secure portal; be sure to register early.
Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has pre-released its list of 2010 SBIR Topics. There are 42 research topics that include subjects like Cryocoolers, RFID-Integrated Sensors, Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes, 3-D Imaging Ssensors, and Barrier Fabrics for Fire Safety.
Full Solicitation will be released on November 2nd, but a list of 42 intended topics is available now. Proposals will be due on January 22nd and Phase I Awards will have a maximum value of $90,000.
