Stacy L Chin explains NIH's new direct-to-Phase II pathway for SBIR/STTR grants. If your company has proven technical feasibility through investor funding, university research, or internal R&D, you can skip Phase I and apply straight for Phase II, accessing larger non-dilutive funding faster.
If your technology is beyond the proof of concept stage, you could skip Phase 1 altogether. NIH is now providing a faster path to larger awards for companies if ready. So for founders, this could actually dramatically accelerate the funding process and potentially unlock millions of dollars of non-dilutive funding much sooner. Under the old parent omnibus solicitations, companies generally had to start with Phase 1 before becoming eligible for Phase 2 funding. But now under the new parent omnibus solicitation, this now introduces a direct-to-Phase 2 pathway. So that means if you already demonstrate technical feasibility, whether it's through investor funding, university research, internal R&D, or any other non-SBIR source, you may actually be able to apply directly to a Phase II funding.
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