Notice Number: NOT-OD-07-036

Key Dates
Release Date: January 16, 2007

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (http://www.cdc.gov/)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), (http://www.fda.gov/)

The purpose of this notice is to (1) announce the issuance of the SOLICITATION of THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH), CENTERS for DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC), and FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) for SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) and SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) GRANT APPLICATIONS (PHS 2007-2) and (2) inform the public about the opportunities that the SBIR/STTR programs offer to small business concerns. Eligible small business concerns are invited to submit SBIR and STTR grant applications for the Calendar Year (CY) 2007 to the NIH, and SBIR applications to CDC and FDA. (Note that CDC and FDA do not participate in the STTR program.)

The PHS 2007-2 SBIR/STTR Omnibus Solicitation consists of: (1) a parent funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for SBIR (PA-07-280), (2) a parent FOA for STTR (PA-07-281), and (3) narrative descriptions of the programs and research topics for the participating institutes and centers. All three documents are available from the NIH Small Business Funding Opportunities home page.

United States small business concerns that have the research capabilities and technological expertise to contribute to the research or research and development (R/R&D) missions of the NIH, CDC or FDA awarding components identified in this solicitation are encouraged to submit SBIR/STTR grant applications in response to identified topics. Applicants may also consider “other” areas of research within the mission of an Institute/Center (IC) and submit an investigator-initiated SBIR/STTR application.

The submission dates for grant applications in response to the PHS 2007-2 are April 5, August 5, and December 5, 2007 (May 1 and September 1, 2007, and January 2, 2008 for Aids/Aids-Related applications). 

Only electronic applications will be accepted and must be submitted through the Federal-wide portal Grants.gov.

Eligibility requirements, definitions, application procedures, review considerations, application forms and instructions, and other pertinent information are contained in the SBIR and STTR parent FOAs and the Grants.gov SBIR/STTR Application Guide.

The SBIR and STTR legislation requires the Public Health Service (PHS), Department of Health and Human Services, and certain other federal agencies to reserve 2.5 percent of their extramural R/R&D budgets for an SBIR program and 0.3% of their extramural R/R&D budgets for an STTR program. The PHS SBIR and STTR set-aside requirements for FY 2007 are estimated to be $640 million for NIH, $8 million for CDC, and $535,000 for FDA.

The goals of the SBIR and STTR programs are to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector, strengthen the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increase the commercial application of federally supported research results, and foster and encourage participation by socially and economically disadvantaged persons and women-owned small businesses in technological innovation. The STTR program further expands the goals through cooperative R/R&D carried out between small business concerns and non-profit research institutions. Innovative technologies and methodologies fuel progress in biomedical and behavioral research and represent an increasingly important area of the economy. The SBIR and STTR programs provide support for R/R&D of new technologies and methodologies that have the potential to succeed as commercial products, processes or services.

The SBIR and STTR programs consist of three phases:

PHASE I: The objective of Phase I is to establish the technical merit and feasibility of the proposed R/R&D efforts and to determine the quality of performance of the small business grantee organization prior to providing further Federal support in Phase II. Preliminary data is not required. SBIR/STTR Phase I awards normally may not exceed $100,000 total costs (direct costs, Facilities & Administrative [F&A] costs, and fee) for a period normally not to exceed 6 months (SBIR) or one year (STTR). For SBIR projects, the total amount of all contractual costs and consultant fees normally may not exceed 33% of the total costs requested. For STTR projects, the small business must perform a minimum of 40% of the R/R&D and the single partnering U.S. non-profit research institution must perform a minimum of 30% of the R/R&D.

PHASE II: The objective of Phase II is to continue the R/R&D efforts initiated in Phase I. Funding shall be based on several factors including the feasibility results of Phase I, scientific and technical merit, and commercial potential of the Phase II application. SBIR/STTR Phase II awards normally may not exceed $750,000 in total costs (direct costs, F&A costs, and fee) for a period normally not to exceed 2 years. Only Phase I grantees are eligible to obtain Phase II funding, and only one Phase II award may be made for a single SBIR/STTR project.

PHASE III: The objective of Phase III is for the small business concern to pursue with non-SBIR/STTR funds (either Federal or non-Federal) the commercialization objectives resulting from the results of the research or R&D funded in Phases I and II. In some Federal agencies, Phase III may involve follow-on, non-SBIR/STTR funded R&D, or production contracts for products or processes intended for use by the U.S. Government.

Inquiries
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact NIH, CDC, and FDA staff listed in the Agency Contacts Table of the SBIR or STTR parent funding opportunity announcements (see Small Business Funding Opportunities web page) prior to submitting an SBIR/STTR grant application. General inquiries may be addressed to [email protected].