Phase IIB Bridge Award
FY2022 Phase IIB Bridge Award
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): RFA-CA-21-036
Application Receipt Date: August 6, 2021, by 5:00 PM local time
SBIR and STTR projects from other Federal agencies are welcome to apply.
Check Section III of the FOA for detailed eligibility criteria.
Bridge Award Informational Webinar: July 1, 2021, 2-3 p.m. EDT [REGISTER HERE]
About the NCI SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Award
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program has developed an innovative funding opportunity called the SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Award to support the next stage of development for Federally funded SBIR Phase II projects in the areas of cancer therapeutics, imaging technologies, interventional devices, diagnostics, and prognostics. The purpose of this award is to address the funding gap known as the "Valley of Death" between the end of the SBIR Phase II award and the subsequent round of financing needed to advance a product or service toward commercialization. To achieve this goal, the Bridge Award funding opportunity is specifically designed to incentivize partnerships between Federally-funded SBIR Phase II awardees and third-party investors and/or strategic partners.
For any single year of the project period, budgets up to $2 million total costs may be requested. However, the combined budget requested for the entire project period must not exceed $4 million total costs. Development efforts must address one of the following technical/scientific areas:
- Cancer Therapeutics and Preventive Agents;
- Cancer Imaging Technologies, Interventional Devices, and In Vivo Diagnostics;
- In Vitro and Ex Vivo Cancer Diagnostics and Prognostics;
- Technologies for Cancer Prevention and Control, Supportive Care, and Survivorship; and/or
- Tools and Model Systems for Cancer Research.
NCI intends to commit $12M for up to 10 new awards in FY2021.
Competitive preference and funding priority is given to applications deemed likely to result in a commercial product, as indicated by the applicant's ability to secure substantial independent third-party investor funds (i.e., third-party funds that equal or exceed the requested NCI funds). Examples of third-party investors include, but are not limited to, another company, a venture capital firm, an angel investor, a foundation, a university, a research institution, or a State or local government, or any combination of the above. Applicants must provide a commercialization plan that describes the long-term commercialization strategy and details on any independent third-party investor funding that has already been secured or will be provided during the Bridge Award project period.
Eligibility Requirements
An SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Award application must represent a continuation of the R&D efforts performed under a previous Federally-funded SBIR or STTR Phase II award nearing completion or recently ended.
- Applications may be predicated on a previously funded SBIR Phase II grant or contract award.*
- In general, applications should be predicated on SBIR/STTR Phase II awards that ended not more than 24 months prior to the application receipt date, although the NCI will consider longer periods of hiatus on a case-by-case basis.
- To be responsive to this FOA, the development activities completed under the previous SBIR or STTR Phase II award MUST provide the appropriate technical foundation to justify continued development of the technology for a cancer-relevant indication/use. Platform technologies that were initially developed for a non-cancer indication/use (e.g., SBIR or STTR Phase II projects funded by an NIH Institute/Center other than the NCI, or SBIR or STTR Phase II projects funded by a Federal agency other than the NIH) may be responsive only if the earlier data demonstrate technical proof-of-concept that is scientifically relevant to the cancer indication/use.
- The Phase II project period must end before a Phase IIB Bridge Award can be issued.
*NOTE: Applicants who intend to submit a Phase IIB Bridge Award application that is predicated on a Phase II award funded by a federal agency other than the NIH or a previous Phase II contract award MUST contact the SBIR Development Center prior to submission, so that the NCI can properly arrange for such applications to be accepted.
Current SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Awardees
See the NCI SBIR Bridge Award Success Stories to learn about all current Bridge Awardees and the cancer technologies they are developing.