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: (1) the infrastructure for identifying the most promising technologies, (2) funding for product definition studies (e.g. feasibility studies, prototype development, proof-of-concept studies) provided to individual researchers, (3) access to resources and expertise in areas required for early stage technology development (including scientific, regulatory, reimbursement, business, legal, and project management), and (4) skills development and hands-on experience in entrepreneurship. Establishing public-private partnerships and providing additional non-federal funds will be critical for success.
Only one application per institution (normally identified by having a unique NIH IPF number) is allowed.
- Application Due Date(s): Feb. 9, 2023
RFA-OD-23-005 Expiration Date February 10, 2023
Although every technology development project is unique, broad guidelines for different types of projects are as follows:
- Small Molecule Therapeutics: The compound is at the lead optimization or preclinical stage. The target is known, and/or there is some method or assay to determine its effect.
- Biologics or Cell Based Therapies: The biologic or cell population has been identified and some reasonable method of development, sourcing, manufacture, or proliferation is proposed. Mechanism of action has been determined to a sufficient level that there is a reasonable understanding of the product to be developed or tested in the project.
- Interventional Medical Device: The proposal includes prototype development and testing, either on the bench or in animals. Physiologic experiments have been conducted or reported in the literature, providing rationale for prototype development.
- Diagnostic Medical Device/IVD/MDx: The proposal includes prototype development and some method of testing.
- Health IT, Software, Apps, and Algorithms: The proposal should be beyond the concept stage and already have an existing code base. The idea should be grounded in previous experiments or solid peer reviewed evidence. The proposal should include steps to validate the technology by demonstrating its efficacy versus the standard of care or utility in pilot studies or user testing, or, if already validated, to refine the technology to make it appropriate for commercialization.
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. Please contact the Scientific/Review staff listed below for clarification. Institutions in IDeA-eligible states are strongly encouarged to apply for this funding opportunity.
The maximum budget for a Hub is $1,000,000 total costs per year.
The maximum project period is 4 years.