If you are seeking an investment via an SBIR or STTR award, you might not think you need to explain its market potential –after all, you don’t have to “pay back” the award.  Well, that’s true, you do not have to write a check and pay them back, but the American tax payer is investing in your idea. The government is taking a chance on your idea and your company; they want to know that you can take their investment and make a sustaining product that will enable your company to grow.  If you grow, you create jobs, and job creation means growth in the economy.

 Writing a well crafted commercialization plan can help you make your case.

 Your commercialization plan needs to be detailed and well thought out. Avoid generalized statements like “there is a huge market” or “we can make lots of money”.  Start by answering some basic questions: Is there a market pull—who’s asking for the technology or who has indicated that they actually NEED your technology? What is the size of the market? How will you manufacture, market, and sell it if you only have a 1-person company?  Do you have a plan to get it from your laboratory into the hands of your customer?  How will you price it in order to make profitable—if the cost to produce far exceeds the amount customers are willing to pay, how will you make a profit?  How is your management team structured—has anyone brought a technology from inception to market? Not only do you need to answer these questions, you need to make sure you’ve done market research to support your claims with hard facts–do not make claims you cannot back. 

 For a more comprehensive list of concepts to include, see Elements of Your Commercialization Plan.

There are four Main Topics with multiple subtopics under each:

• Biotech and Chemical Technologies (BC)
• Education Applications (EA)
• Information and Communication Technologies (IC)
• Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Manufacturing (NM)

Proposals will be due by June 9th.

Cheers to Tim Dorr and A Small Orange from the ATDC!  (And we call shotgun when the new ride arrives.)

 Since the focus of SBIR/STTR is funding for your research,  you need to fully explain to the funding agency what that research will be.  Yes, all parts of your proposal are important, but the meat of your proposal needs to be your Research Plan (also known as a Work Plan).  This is what the agency is going to pay you to accomplish.

 The plan needs to be a step-by-step outline of not only what you will do, but also how you will actually do it, who will do it, how the predicted results will move the overall idea forward, where it will be done, and when it will be accomplished–a timeline for completing the work.  Every aspect of your research needs to be spelled out exactly; do not make the reviewer guess or assume! Time after time companies fail to realize how detailed it needs to be.  

 Writing out a clear plan also helps you think through your overall goals. Once you start detailing, you might discover you need to modify your strategy to actually meet your desired objectives, or you might need to scale back your research to complete it within budget and time-frame. Creating a detailed Research Plan will help your company–whether you receive the SBIR/STTR Award or not.

For those submitting SBIR/STTR applications to the NIH, April 5th is the first time the restructured proposal will be in effect.  This is daunting for both first time and returning SBIR/STTR applicants.

The NIH has been inundated with questions and comments concerning these new processes.  In an effort to address these questions they are holding a webinar (through GoToMeeting).  This will be an opportunity for NIH staff to discuss the restructuring of the Research Plan, new page limits, new scoring, and other changes resulting from Enhancing Peer Review and to provide a forum for you to ask questions.

When: March 15, 2010 – 2:00 to 4:00 PM EST

REGISTRATION: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/735602218
(Note: the session is free, but you must register to participate)

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These awards are larger than traditional Phase II awards, with allowable budgets up to $1M per year and a 3 year max.  Phase I applications are not allowed, however, a FastTrack application may be submitted as long as the Phase I portion is in preparation for a Phase II to fund pre-clinical trials.  If you have already received a Phase II, this mechanism can also be used to fund a competing renewal application with the same allowable budget as above.

Cooperative Agreements are an NIH funding mechanism that allows NIH programming staff to be more involved with the evolution and progress of a project.  Specifically, go/no-go assessments can be made and funding halted if sufficient progress is not made.  This is attractive to the NIH as it allows them to be more closely involved with large grant awards and use their funding more wisely.

For more information contact the NINDS SBIR/STTR Program Director, Dr. Randall Stewart, to discuss your project and it’s applicability to this program.  Regular receipt dates (Apr 5, Aug 5, Dec 5) apply, and program staff should be contacted 10 weeks prior to submission.