Congress may let SBIR authority lapse this week

SBIR/STTR/CPP EXPIRATION LOOMS (circulated by Rick Shindell, reposted by AlleleBlog)

The SBIR/STTR/CPP now appears likely to expire on Thursday night, September 30.
Some will deny it but here’s what’s happening.

Allegedly the Senate and House were close to a compromise complete with an 8 year
reauthorization of SBIR/STTR/CPP but each time it goes back to the House (Nydia &
Day), they change the VC language to masquerade 100% VC involvement as a compromise.

Because time is so short, the Senate passed a bill (S.3839) to simply extend
SBIR/STTR/CPP through January 31, 2010. The House was going to pass it on Wednesday
with the President signing Thursday. However, the word on the street is that Nydia
Velazquez, chair of the House Small Business Committee, and her illustrious second,
Michael Day, are rejecting the bill and are poised to let SBIR expire if necessary,
at least in the short term.

It seems that Velazquez’s hope is to move the SBIR reauthorization into the lame
duck session and incorporate all her Wall Street investors’ 100% non-compromise VC
ownership and jumbo award support into a must pass, end of the year omnibus bill
that can’t be touched by her detractors.

This sounds like a script for TV, but several years ago we had a similar year end
omnibus situation involving Nydia (as ranking member) and Sam Graves (subcommittee
chair) and BIO/NVCA, but the main difference was that the small business committee
chair was Donald Manzullo who nipped it in the bud. In our scenario today we have
to look to the House leadership to do it, but it will take your involvement.

Many senior people in the democratic party called for the House to support the
Senate compromise bill H.R. 2965, but Nydia ignored those calls, as did Jason
Altmire, the creator of this infamous Altmire Quagmire. Now Nydia’s really “miffed”
because last week she tried to “scrub” H.R.5297, the Small Business Jobs Act of
2010, but the Obama administration and Speaker Pelosi rolled her over and passed it.

CALL TO ACTION

If SBIR is important to you and your company, it’s time to get serious and realize
that this program can, and will go away unless you make a big noise to let your
politician’s know how you feel. All of us are sick of this, and we’re now facing a
lapse. Eight times this program has been deemed important enough to keep going (via
a CR) but will Nydia be successful in blocking this ninth attempt?

Voting will occur in the House on Wednesday and this may be the last time until
after the election that the SBIR extension bill could voted on. That means we must
act on Tuesday, September 28.

Here are some suggestions and rationale behind them.

CALL CALL CALL the House Tuesday September 21! Call Nancy Pelosi’s office at (202)
225-4965, Steny Hoyer (majority leader) at (202) 225-4131, Nydia Velazquez (202)
225-2361, also the House Small Business Committee line (202) 225-4038

Those of you who are good democrats, call the remaining House Democratic caucus
leaders: John Larson 202- 225-2265, Xavier Becerra 202-225-6235, Jim Clyburn
(202)225-3315

Those of you who are good republicans, call John Boehner (202) 225-6205, Eric Cantor
202-225-2815

Tell them in your own words that SBIR is about to expire and is being held hostage
by Nydia Velazquez. Let them know how important continuation of SBIR is to your
business and the country. Ask them to please support S.3839 (additional temporary
extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment
Act of 1958) to keep the program from lapsing this week.

I realize that I’m asking you to do something that requires a good chunk of your
time. However, at the risk of losing you as a reader I must tell you that I donate
a large share of my time to try and keep you informed about this program, and I’m
not asking you to do anything for me, only for you and others like you. We do have
some good representatives from both parties BUT they need to hear from you and
quickly.

If you’re bold ask, “I would like to know how a party can let itself get hijacked by
a few people (like Nydia) on a vitally important, highly regarded and accepted
program. This action is to the detriment of your constituents, the country, and
yes, even your own party!”

Here’s what’s going on in the back rooms (formerly smoke filled) The Senate agreed
on a 4 month extension for SBIR because they (Senate) largely (including many on the
Republican side) did not feel a reasonable bill could be passed in the lame duck
session. The Senate has offered up some huge compromises that some believe even
James Greenwood from BIO could live with. The very long shot is that with enough
pressure we might get a compromise bill passed by Thursday.

WHAT HAPPENS IF SBIR LAPSES, EVEN FOR A SHORT TIME

This is an interesting question. Theoretically those projects (grants and
contracts) that are already in place should be okay, but some not. All new unsigned
agreements would stop. Agency comptrollers may start adjusting their budgets to put
the overall 2.8% SBIR/STTR back into their own research pools. Administrative
funding for SBIR could be severely cut back. Remember, all of your grants and
contracts are “subject to the availability of funding.”

On the other hand, SBIR can be voluntary, so some agencies may choose to keep their
SBIR doors open, hoping for, or expecting the reinstatement of the program.

In any event, this is bad for you and the agencies.

The Insider will be on the Hill Wednesday and Thursday, so we’ll do a follow up
report to you asap.

Rick Shindell
SBIR Gateway
Zyn Systems
40 Alderwood Dr.
Sequim, WA 98382
360-681-4123
rick@zyn.com
www.zyn.com/sbir

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Tags: BIO, BIOCOM, congress, innovation, NIH funding, NIH grants, San Diego biotech, SBIR, SDEE, VC companies

NIH Announces SHIFT SBIR Grants to Help Academic Researchers Get Jobs in Biotech

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) just announced a new type of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants. Called SHIFT SBIR, these grants are designed to “(1) to foster research that is translational in nature and (2) to transform academic scientific discoveries into commercial products and services,” according to the NIH announcement, and to also facilitate licensing of intellectual properties from academic institutions as well as promote better access to academic resources. The PI transitioning from the academic institution must be primarily employed by his/her research institution at the time of application and must be primarily employed (more than 50% time) by the company by or at the time of award.

One very attractive aspect of these grants is that they mean more money than standard SBIR grants. Up to $200,000 total costs per year and time periods up to 2 years may be requested for Phase I. Well-justified budgets up to $750,000 total costs per year and time periods up to 3 years may be requested for Phase II. That is sufficient for a good researcher to build a team to do research in one direction within pretty much any small company setting.

A little background about SBIR grants: SBIR programs sponsored by federal funding agencies including the NIH, NSF, DOE, FDA, the military departments, etc. have been a major source of funding for many biotech companies like Allele Biotech during their startup phases. SBIR grants can also be used to facilitate continued research and help business expansion even as the company grows. As an example of the effects of SBIR grants, Allele Biotech obtained 5 such grants from 2000 to 2003 and built a company from just ideas to one with a patent in RNAi, an out-licensing deal with Promega, a product line in oligo synthesis, and a structure that helped launch currently ~1,500 products since 2004. We then carried out 2 more SBIR contracts for the NIH from 2007 to now, which moved us into the field of special antigen production, iPS using Bacmam systems, viral packaging services, and hopefully more advanced antibodies in the pipeline.

The link to the full NIH announcement is here.

To read more blogs on SBIR related topics, click here.

The current topics of SHIFT SBIR solicitation is listed below for Allele Blog viewers’ convenience:

• Applying opportunities in genomics and other high throughput technologies to understand fundamental biology, and to uncover the causes of specific diseases
• Translating basic science discoveries into new and better treatments
• Development of diagnostics, preventative strategies and therapeutic tools
• Development and clinical evaluation of biomarkers for alcohol exposure and alcohol-induced tissue injury
• Therapeutic development for alcoholism treatment
• Diagnostic assessment and treatment of alcohol use disorders and comorbidity
• Alcohol biosensors and data analysis systems
• Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and alcohol-related birth defects
• Minimal dose post-exposure vaccine for rabies
• Immunotherapy to kill HIV-infected cells
• Asthma therapeutic vaccine
• Novel antifibrotic therapies for progressive liver failure
• Diagnostic measurement devices or methods for assessment of urinary leakage and incontinence
• Therapeutics for diabetic wound healing
• Pediatric formulations
• Robust diagnostic biosensors for infants
• mHealth tools for assessing and addressing health in children and families
• Wearable diagnostic and therapeutic devices for physiologic monitoring and interventions
• Wearable biosensors for persons with genetic sensitivity to environmental factors
• Therapeutic interventions for persons with physical and developmental disabilities
• Advancement of novel botanical therapies for effective symptom management of non-life-threatening conditions
• Development of interactive technologies to improve and expand delivery of mind/body interventions
• Discovery of improved methodology for the characterization of plants and their secondary metabolites
• Development of standardized, objective methods to assess patient adherence to specific CAM treatment interventions;
• Development of devices/tools to assess consistency and fidelity of practitioner approaches and other aspects of protocol implementation
• Virtual settings or online tools for clinician training and implementation of fidelity monitors
• Development and validation of enhanced patient-reported outcome assessment tools for CAM (e.g. new user (clinician, researcher, and/or patient/study volunteer)–friendly interfaces, methods to improve compatibility with research and health informatics systems currently in use)
• Development of measurement tools for assessing expectancy for effects of CAM mind-body medicine, acupuncture, and manual therapy interventions
• Novel technologies that enhance/track/monitor “real time” adherence to drug abuse (and HIV+) treatment regimens
• Technology to improve the efficacy of substance abuse treatment, treatment adherence, and reduce recidivism among criminally-involved patients
• Mobile and/or internet technology based treatment interventions to augment traditional substance use disorder (SUD) treatments and their outcome
• Technologies and/or devices to boost medication adherence for SUD patients
• Technology-based treatment platforms to standardize interventions and to make them more community-friendly
• Integrate item response theory and computer adaptive testing in measures of addiction liability.
• Brief screening tools to assess relapse risks in and out drug treatment settings
• Use of the internet to link community based outreach and HIV testing services to facilitate access by drug users and their sex partners in neighborhood settings.
• Development of novel therapeutics, diagnostics, and devices for treating heart, lung, blood and sleep diseases and disorders
• New or improved measures, analytical methods, and instruments for gene expression in individuals with heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders and diseases
• Health-care systems and outcomes research, including development of new quality measures for evidence-based heart, lung, blood, and sleep health care
• Models of behavior modification and other approaches to behavior change related to heart, lung, blood, and sleep diseases and disorders
• Devices and technologies to prevent cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury
• Vaccines for the prevention or treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases
• Non-invasive methods to diagnose DVT and PE
• Technologies and strategies to advance cellular therapies for heart, lung and non-malignant blood diseases
• Therapies to treat hematologic diseases and cytopenic states
• Technologies for in vitro reduction, inactivation or removal of microorganisms and other infectious moieties from blood, blood components, and plasma derivatives
• Development of products, technologies and services to diagnose, treat and/or prevent skin and rheumatic diseases, muscle disorders, and joint and bone diseases

Tags: biotech industry jobs, career in biotech, NIH grants, SBIR, start up, translational research

How I started my company and why–Inaugural Event by San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange (SDEE)

For current graduate students, postdocs, and holders of other “in-transient” positions in bioscience-related fields today, a persistently resounding question on our minds is “What path should I follow at the end of a long and ragged journey of training?” Interestingly in our industry, like downhill skiing you see in the Winter Olympics, once you start one path it is not an easy switch to get on another.

Many of the Ph.D.s in biomed share the general view that an independent research position typically at an academic institute or non-profit organization such as San Diego’s local Salk, Scripps, or Sanford—Burnham, is the goal of the many years of training. Others soon realize that there are numerous research jobs at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that will make good use of their expertise, experience, and unique background knowledge in a particular field. And of course there are those who “defect” to different industries that may or may not directly relate to their extensive experience in wet labs, such as working in intellectual property laws, clinical trial management, biomedical sales, business development and management.

Research in major pharmaceutical companies (big pharma) normally focuses on a project with set goals, milestones, and layers of monitoring and management. That is how a large team can function together and get the tasks done in a timely manner. Working in smaller biotech companies can be much more flexible, researcher-initiated, and in many ways fun. On the other hand, you will be required to do much more than reading papers, designing experiments, obtaining and interpreting results. Starting a small biotech company is by no means an easy path to take, but if done correctly with some luck and a lot of determination, it can be a very rewarding career. You will get to utilize to the maximum extent of all your intelligence, knowledge, vision, and personal relations. You also have the opportunity to do real cutting-edge research in various areas, and see the fruits in journal publications, grant awards, as well as in the wild wide market.

The San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange (SDEE) was founded by local San Diego entrepreneurs in order to provide a voice for the early stage technology startup, to encourage new entrepreneurs, and to sponsor networking and educational events that help develop the skills necessary to bring funding and business to the San Diego area.

The inaugural SDEE event to be held Wednesday March 10th at 5pm. It will help answer some of the questions you may have been thinking about regarding starting or working in a startup biotech company. Allele Biotech’s founder and CEO Dr. Jiwu Wang will be among the speakers. Ten years ago Dr, Wang was a postdoc at UCSD with an NIH fellowship, right before he started Allele with a number of NIH small business innovative research grants. He will talk about the ultimate “academic freedom”–doing any research you want but completely at your own risk– as the reason to start a technology-focused company, and the lessons he learned the hard way about running a lab vs organizing a business. Other speakers include CEOs from a number of San Diego biotech companies with great stories to share with postdocs and others. The talks will be brief yet informative, and on-site interactions are encouraged. The Sanford-Burnham building 12 is outside the main campus, with plenty of free parking. Click here for more details about the event. http://www.allelebiotech.com/allele3/SDEE-First-Event-Announcement.pdf (at AlleleNews). Let us know if you are coming by emailing to events@sdentrepreneurs.org

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Tags: biotech, biotech careers, biotech jobs, biotech startup, pharmaceutical companies, postdoc jobs, research positions., San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange, SDEE

The economy recession is most likely over, says who?

The economy recession is most likely over, or so says the federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. Do you feel it? Are you seeing increased job opportunities when you leave your current lab or security if you have a post-postdoc position? In our industry, where the health of the economy is mostly measured by research budgets of individual labs or research groups, occasionally by budgets for contracting or licensing fees, the change, if any, is still hard-to-find. But hiring at academic institutes like UCSD seems to have picked up lately, probably due to addition grants from the Obama administration’s stimulus programs. At the same time, individual NIH R1 grants have been creeping up to easily around 1 million a year, program grants 3-5 millions. With more stimulus money kicking in to academic labs this fall, it is expected that the situation will further improve. Comments welcome.

Notes about recent jobs in Pharma/Biotech: since our last blog about massive Pfizer layoff of scientists in 02-09-09, a major layoff in the big pharma sector came from Merck, which announced on 06-11-09 that it would cut 16,000 jobs after completing its merger with Shering Plough. On 09-14-09, Eli Lilly reported job cots of 5,500 or roughly 14% of its work force. There are areas in the country where people report about the economy as “I went to 2 grocery stores and 3 discount department stores over one weekend, and you could do cannon shooting practice in there without hitting a person.” Again comments welcome here, if you believe in a turnaround, or it is all doom and gloom to you. Btw, the History channel has been cranking up the 2012 theories for a couple of months now, if you like the doom and gloom theories.

Note added in proof: As reported in Science yesterday, “a new analysis of the grantsmaking process at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) lifts the veil on how many grant proposals are funded even though they fall below a cutoff based on peer-review scores…at least 19% of NIH’s basic research portfolio is funded for reasons that go beyond quality.”

Francis Collins On the Job

Dr. Collins did a town hall meeting style announcement his first day as NIH Director on Aug 17th, 2009. He laid out his view for the NIH: more funding (good), encouraging young scientists (good, average age for first own funding for US biologist is 42, not good), and staying open in communication with society it is serving.

The NIH has $30.9 billion budget for 09 and 2010 thanks to the stimulus addition of $10 billion/year. However, it will feel dried up after two years if the budget plan remains as is. The Obama administration does not seem to want increase the basic research but instead focus more on health care management.

Collins is a well admired director and established scientist. However, it may be a little concerning that he might be too much into “big science” and organized efforts. I don’t know what they teach in graduate classes now but from what I was told 20 years ago curiosity-driven science is the best science and that was what got the US to the dominant leadership in biomedical fields.

Talking about nurturing young scientists, big programs and big labs controlling most grants by proposing big science seem trendy these days. The fight to become one of the big guys in a small, crowded field is a really daunting path for young researchers to tread. The big guys have the say from publication to funding and often times the unpleasant thought and bitter taste of competing against a scientific juggernaut turn young researchers away.

Tags: big research, Dr. Francis Collins, NIH budget, NIH director, Obama's research policy, young researchers in US