The NIH Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) program is a partnership program between NIH and the qualifying research institutions to accelerate the creation of small businesses and the transition of discoveries originating from academic research into products that improve patient care and enhance health.
Donor Name: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
States: All States
County: All Counties
U.S. Territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/09/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000,000
Grant Duration: 4 years
Details:
REACH Hubs foster the advancement of therapeutics, preventatives, diagnostics, devices, and research tools that address unmet patient and public health needs across the entire NIH mission. Applicants are encouraged to focus on building robust entrepreneurial ecosystems in the areas of highest U.S. burden of disease and disability and areas that historically attract lower levels of private biomedical capital investment.
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) announces the renewal of the NIH Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) program, established to facilitate and accelerate the translation of academic biomedical discoveries into products that improve patient care and public health. Through this program, NIH will provide the qualifying institutions with the funds to seed the creation of academic entrepreneurship Hubs. Hubs will be responsible for providing innovators with both the initial investment and resources to support the proof-of-concept work and the mentorship in product development and commercialization needed to develop high priority technologies within the NIH’s mission. Funded Hubs are intended to work as a consortium to enable:
- the infrastructure for identifying the most promising technologies,
- funding for product definition studies (e.g. feasibility studies, prototype development, proof-of-concept studies) provided to individual researchers,
- access to resources and expertise in areas required for early stage technology development (including scientific, regulatory, reimbursement, business, legal, and project management), and
- skills development and hands-on experience in entrepreneurship. Establishing public private partnerships and providing additional non-federal funds will be critical for success.
The program aims to strengthen and de-risk technologies toward this goal through a team-based developmental approach that addresses downstream requirements, including but not limited to intellectual property, regulatory, and reimbursement issues, and business case development. It is expected that spinout companies will be in a position to submit strong SBIR and STTR program applications. The Hubs will establish novel partnerships, strengthen existing alliances between stakeholders (including academic, non-profit, and industry sectors), provide entrepreneurial educational opportunities for innovators from diverse backgrounds, and create cultural and systemic changes to more rapidly transform breakthrough innovations into products that will have health, economic, and societal impact.
Hubs must meet all the following requirements
- Hub Leadership
- Collaborations and Partnerships
- Regional and Local Impact
- Technology Development
- Project Management
- Educational Activities
The Hub should catalyze professional development by
- Training innovators to assess the commercial potential of their research discoveries and to develop comprehensive product development plans
- Bringing together experienced entrepreneurs and scientists to provide guidance and mentoring
- Providing the broader investigator community with access to forums, seminars, workshops, and related activities
- Providing connections between research performing institutions and life science businesses, industries, and sources of private capital
- Providing focused entrepreneur support and “hands-on learning” targeted at the needs of the innovator, so that scientists have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities.
- Cross-disciplinary (science, business, regulatory, reimbursement, etc.) career development is highly encouraged to achieve the goal of exposing innovators to the myriad processes required to translate discoveries into marketable products.
Award Budget
The maximum budget for a Hub is $1,000,000 total costs per year.
Award Project Period
The maximum project period is 4 years.
Criteria
Eligible Organizations
Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
The primary applicant organization must be a university or other research institution that participates in the NIH STTR program. Participation means that a university or other research institution has been a formal partner to a small business on an STTR award. Many NIH supported universities or other research institutions will be eligible.
Non-eligible Organizations include:
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions)
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations
- Businesses are not eligible to serve as the primary applicant organization
- Previous recipients of NIH Centers for Accelerated Innovations (NCAI) and REACH awards are not eligible to serve as the primary applicant organization
- Government entities
Foreign Institutions
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
- Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
