NIH announces five new Research Evaluation and Commercialization (REACH) Hubs
NIH recently announced awards for five Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH) to accelerate the creation of small businesses and the transition of academic research discoveries into products that improve patient care and enhance health. These new REACH hubs will support innovators from diverse personal, educational, and professional backgrounds across 76 non-profit research institutions spanning 12 states.
The new hubs are:
Can $13M change the distribution pattern for NIH SBIR awards?
A significant majority of SBIR and STTR grants awarded to small businesses from the National Institutes of Health in any given year end up in just a handful of states.
A significant majority of SBIR and STTR grants awarded to small businesses from the National Institutes of Health in any given year end up in just a handful of states. For example, the percentage of all 2017 SBIR/STTR awards made to companies in the 23 states and Puerto Rico eligible to participate for funding from NIH’s Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program was only 8 percent – 97 of the 1,218 awards made across all phases of both innovation funding programs. For comparison, the same states account for 15.8 percent of the estimated U.S. population in 2017. NIH wants to change that discrepancy.