Category: Articles of Interest

Updates from product development and small business programs

Are you working to develop an innovative cancer technology? Take a step forward in your commercialization journey through the newly released FY2024 SBIR Contract Solicitation! This funding opportunity aims to provide early-stage funding to small businesses that are developing cancer technologies in areas defined by the National Cancer Institute.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration converted Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb), indicated to treat adult patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, to traditional approval following a determination that a confirmatory trial verified clinical benefit.

The PHS 2023-2 omnibus solicitations of the NIH, CDC, and FDA for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant applications have been released. The first application due date is Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

The panel’s decision moves the U.S. one step closer to making jabs against respiratory syncytial virus available to the public this fall, when the disease typically begins to spread at higher levels.

The biennial report provides a national snapshot of the most pressing current and anticipated talent needs of the nation’s dynamic life science industry. This year’s report distills a set of key themes sourced from 185 executive interviews and nearly 700 survey responses from companies in eighteen states and Puerto Rico, as well as an assessment of nearly 2.8M job postings from life science companies over the last four years.

Drug makers have been racing at a breakneck pace to develop respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines this year. On May 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it has approved Arexvy, the first-ever RSV vaccine for individuals 60 and over.

Information on Small Business Funding Webinar, National Small Business Week, America’s SEED Fund Week — and more

SBIR and STTR grant funding opportunities offer small business entrepreneurs a chance to obtain non-dilutive funding for early-stage research and development. Applications are accepted three times a year. The next deadline is April 5.

Omnibus Solicitations. Researcher-initiated ideas are proposed via the SBIR and STTR Omnibus grant solicitations. These FOAs do not specify a topic, though they link to identified topics of interest for each participating awarding component. Most small business applications to NIH are submitted to the Omnibus solicitations.

Specific Funding Opportunities. Some SBIR/STTR grant solicitations are focused on specific research areas. Some specific FOAs, identified as RFAs (Requests for Applications) or PASs (Program Announcements with Set-aside funds), have funding set-aside in the Institute/Center’s budget for that targeted program.

FDA advisers endorsed the safety and efficacy of GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in older adults, setting up a final mad dash with Pfizer as both companies eye the regulatory finish line with their promising new vaccines.