Notice Number: NOT-NS-18-002

Key Dates
Release Date: August 10, 2017

Issued by
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to alert the field to program priorities relevant to the SBIR and STTR programs of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

The SBIR and STTR programs include the following objectives: stimulate technological innovation; meet federal research and development (R&D) needs; increase private sector commercialization of innovations developed through federal R&D funding; and foster and encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by socially and economically disadvantaged persons and women-owned small businesses. The NINDS uses the SBIR and STTR programs to achieve the mission of the institute by supporting innovative ideas at different stages of development, including applied bench research, translational research, and early stage clinical trials.

This Notice underscores the high programmatic priority given to research that seeks to achieve the goals of the SBIR and STTR programs. NINDS priorities are given to meritorious research proposals with the greatest potential to advance the NINDS mission (see https://www.ninds.nih.gov/About-NINDS/Who-We-Are/Mission). NINDS is especially interested in:

1) Novel and innovative technologies that are new to the SBIR or STTR programs.
2) Technologies coming to the SBIR or STTR programs for their first indication or market opportunity.
3) Companies and applicants that are new to the SBIR and STTR programs.
4) NINDS Cooperative Agreement (U44) Translational Programs. NINDS has specific translational programs that utilize the SBIR cooperative agreement mechanism (U44). If eligible, companies are encouraged to apply through these programs.

NINDS SBIR and STTR funding decisions are based on a combination of factors: 1) potential for high impact on advancing the NINDS mission and the other programmatic priorities described in this Notice; 2) potential for commercialization; 3) portfolio balance (to determine whether similar projects have already been funded, search NIH Reporter http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm); 4) the quality of the previous performance of the applicant and/or company in the SBIR and/or STTR program, including evidence of Phase III activities; 5) for Phase II applicants, the results of the Phase I; 6) the peer review scores and critiques; 7) availability of funds.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Emily Caporello, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Telephone: 301-496-1779
Email: Emily.caporello@nih.gov