Rob Baranowski, MS, JD
So, you have an NIH SBIR ready to go, but the SBIR program is still not reauthorized. What to do? Well, you may want to repurpose your SBIR to another mechanism or another target agency. You have an opportunity to diversify your grant portfolio into a wide variety of other mechanisms and granting agencies/funding sources. There is a wide variety of ways that you can repurpose your NIH (or other agency) grant for funding right now that won’t mean waiting until the SBIR program is reauthorized.
Some of these opportunities are at the NIH. Consider the following mechanisms at the NIH (you can search for these grants and many more at www.grants.gov:
- R21: The R21 grant is an exploratory/developmental grant that is perfect for early-stage work on a very new product. This is best for a product that is still very early in development that needs some foundational work to establish it’s feasibility. These grants are worth ~$275,000 each and are most comparable to a Phase I SBIR.
- R01, U01, R61/R33, UG3/UH3: These grants are larger money grants ($2.5M+) that will help cover expenses for a project that has some preliminary evidence in it. They are best used for academic/industry collaborations, where you as a small business are working with an academic lab on a project, and they are comparable to a Phase II SBIR in terms of time allowed and budget.
- R61/R33: These grants are comparable to a FastTrack-type of SBIR, where the R61 is the first phase of the grant and the R33 is the second phase. (R33s can also be used to follow onto a R21 exploratory grant). R61s are for ~$900K, and R33s are for ~$1.65M.
- R34: This is a clinical trial planning grant for those of you who are considering clinical trials. They are worth about $450K and can help you plan a clinical trial for your product. These grants are especially helpful for people who are moving between Phase I and Phase II.
- R03: This is a small research grant ($50K) suitable for funding preliminary work or a Phase I Aim 1 – type of grant.
Additional agencies that might fund your grant include the following:
- ARPA-H: The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health funds high-impact, large budget projects. You begin the process by discussing your technology with a program officer at the agency and then securing an invitation to submit. ARPA-H grants can be very large (up to $50M). This agency is all about game-changing technologies – don’t go to them with an incremental improvement.
- BARDA: The Center for Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority funds mature technologies that can be used for medical counter measures (vaccines, antimicrobials, threat countermeasures, diagnostics, etc.). Their grants range from $5M to $50M. BARDA is looking for more developed technologies that are needing additional work to develop, including clinical trials. You would start this process by meeting with their program officers through a TechWatch meeting up front.
- DoW: The Department of War has a very large budget for healthcare solutions of all types, and this appetite for healthcare solutions extends well beyond its SBIR program. Some of the agencies at DoW that you may want to consider are DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), CDMRP (the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs), SOCCOM (US Special Operations Command), and USAMRDC (the US Army Medical Research and Development Command). Each of these programs has millions of dollars available for research projects covering a wide range of products.
- NSF: The National Science Foundation offers grants for people that are developing biomedical technologies as well. Many of this agency’s offerings would require a partnership with an academic laboratory or non-profit organization, but not all do. Please note that you do NOT need to submit a project pitch for most NSF proposals.
If you are interested, check the links above for more information. Note that even after the SBIR program is reauthorized, these agencies will offer money for you to develop your technologies further.
