Now Is the Time to Prepare Your NCATS Small Business Funding Applications

Small businesses and research organizations involved in commercializing innovative medical technologies are encouraged to apply for the 2019 Omnibus Grant Solicitations (SBIR: PA-19-272) and STTR:  PA-19-270). If you have your application almost ready, be sure to submit by the Monday,Jan. 6, 2020 deadline. The next deadline will be Apr. 6, 2020. NCATS is particularly interested in applications that address research areas relevant to any stage of translation, from target validation through pre-clinical and clinical evaluation, to intervention implementation and dissemination, including:

• Preclinical Drug Discovery and Development
• Biomedical, Clinical and Health Research Informatics
• Clinical, Dissemination and Implementation Research

SBIR and STTR applicants can apply for Phase I and Phase II funding. SBIR applicants can also now opt to apply for Direct-to-Phase II Funding.  This award allows small businesses to submit Direct-to-Phase II SBIR applications if the small business has performed the Phase I stage-type research through other funding sources. An updated SBIR/STTR Application Guide with additional instructions for the newly reinstated SBIR Direct Phase II application preparation and submission is now available.

Questions? NCATS encourages applicants to email [email protected] to discuss potential project ideas and related questions.

Why Apply?

• Funding is stable, predictable and not a loan
• Capital is non-dilutive
• Small businesses and research organizations retain intellectual property rights
• NIH’s rigorous peer-review provides recognition, validation and visibility to early-stage companies
• Prestige associated with these awards can help attract more funding or other support (e.g., venture capital, strategic partners)

Tips for Applying:

1. Clear all administrative requirements: Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements and must complete all required registrations prior to submission. Register your small business with Grants.gov, SAM.gov, the NIH eRA Commons and the SBA Company Registry (NEW)  as soon as possible. Principal Investigators must also individually register with NIH eRA Commons. Those eligible to certify as a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) should obtain the WOSB designation, and those eligible to certify as a Minority-Owned Small Business should obtain certification.
2. Build and submit a strong application: Follow the SBIR/STTR Application Guide to ensure proper grant application content and format. You can also find examples of successful applications on a variety of topics on the NIH website.
3. Submit before the deadline: Completing all the required steps can take a month or two, so don’t wait until the last minute: Plan ahead to help ensure your application moves forward for consideration successfully.