# Presentation: 031161

## Michael Weingarten
Director, NCI SBIR Development Center

**Michael Weingarten**
**Director, NCI SBIR Development Center**

**An Overview of the ****NCI SBIR Program**

*July 28, 2008*

## Why are SBIR and STTR Important?

**NIH’s primary resource for enabling commercialization of innovative, high impact-technologies, such as:**
**Research tools**
**Medical devices**
**Therapeutics**
**Provides incentive to academic investigators to translate technology (new company formation)**
**One of the largest sources of early stage life sciences financing in the country**
- Provides early stage funding of novel drugs and devices that show promise in the fight against cancer.
***A $100 million program at the NCI***

## Why are SBIR and STTR Important?

**Venture capital and angel investors are moving to fund later stage technology development to reduce their risk and increase return.**
**Often don’t invest in a device until a prototype is available and pre-clinical or clinical data indicates safety and efficacy.**
**Without SBIR funding, many critical new technologies would never be made available for widespread clinical use.**
**Ultimately, the goal is to accelerate the application of promising novel cancer therapies and technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in patients. **

## SBIR Program Enhancements

**Co-invest With the Private Sector to Bridge SBIR Projects Toward Commercialization**
**Establish NCI SBIR Development Center**
**Focus Solicitations on Commercially Viable Technologies**

## EnhancementCo-invest With the PrivateSector to Bridge SBIR Projects Toward Commercialization

- _Enhancement_Co-invest With the PrivateSector to Bridge SBIR Projects Toward Commercialization

## Phase II SBIR andCommercialization Success

**Significant resources are required for getting through the FDA approval process**
**This funding gap is known as the “Valley of Death”**

**Today, many awardees complete the SBIR Phase II award without advancing the technology far enough to attract private investment**

## SBIR Phase II Bridge Award

**Follow-On Award to the SBIR Phase II Award**
**Goal is to help early-stage companies cross the “Valley of Death” by:**
**Helping to facilitate partnerships with third party investors/strategic partners**
**Incentivizing partnerships earlier in the development process by sharing in the investment risk**
**The Bridge Award is modeled after NSF’s “Phase IIB Option” and has the same key feature:**

## Phase II Bridge Pilot at NCI

**Third-party funds are expected to equal or exceed NCI funds being requested**
**Third-party investors are expected to bring:**
**Rigorous commercialization due diligence**
**Commercialization guidance during the award**
**Additional financing beyond the minimum third-party requirement **

## 
Award focuses on cancer therapeutics and cancer imaging
$1 MM (NCI SBIR set-aside dollars) per year for ≤ 3 years
Development efforts must be predicated on a previous SBIR Phase II grant and may include:
Pre-clinical R&D needed for regulatory filings (e.g. IND or IDE) 
Clinical trials
Application Dates: September 19, 2008 and February 27, 2009
NCI intends to commit up to $10M in FY 2009 to Bridge Awards
Open to current and recently expired NIH SBIR Phase II projects

**Award focuses on cancer therapeutics and cancer imaging**
**$1 MM (NCI SBIR set-aside dollars) per year for ****≤**** 3 years**
**Development efforts must be predicated on a previous SBIR Phase II grant and may include:**
**Pre-clinical R&D needed for regulatory filings (e.g. IND or IDE) **
**Clinical trials**
**Application Dates: September 19, 2008 and February 27, 2009**
**NCI intends to commit up to $10M in FY 2009 to Bridge Awards**
**Open to current and recently expired NIH SBIR Phase II projects**

**Phase II Bridge Pilot at NCI****RFA-CA-08-021**

## Example: How the Bridge Award Would Apply in the Area of Drug Development

**Commercialization**

**NDA**
**Review**

**Clinical**
**Trials**

**Safety**
**Review**

**Preclinical Development**
**(Lead Development, Animal Studies, File IND)**

**Target Identification**
**& Validation**

**Private Investment**

## Example: How the Bridge Award Would Apply in the Area of Drug Development

**Commercialization**

**NDA**
**Review**

**Clinical**
**Trials**

**Safety**
**Review**

**Preclinical Development**
**(Lead Development, Animal Studies, File IND)**

**Target Identification**
**& Validation**

**SBIR Bridge Award addresses the problem by bridging the “****Valley of Death****”**

**SBIR Bridge Award**** ****allows NIH to share investment risk by incentivizing investors  or strategic partners to evaluate projects and commit funds much earlier**

**Private Investment**

**SBIR Bridge Award**

## Milestone-Based Awards

**Commercialization**

**NDA**
**Review**

**Clinical**
**Trials**

**Safety**
**Review**

**Preclinical Development**
**(Lead Development, Animal Studies, File IND)**

**Target Identification**
**& Validation**

**Milestone-Based Awards**

**Phase I & Phase II ****SBIR**

**Private Investment / Strategic Partner**

**SBIR Bridge Award**

## Why should we expect this to work?

**Phase IIB: 10-Year Track Record of Success at NSF**
**In FY 06, NSF invested $18M in Phase IIB companies that in turn raised $58M in third-party funds**
**Recent data show that five years after beginning the Phase II SBIR award:**
- Phase IIB awardees have commercialization success rate = **70%**
- Companies that don’t receive a Phase IIB have a success rate = **30%**

## EnhancementEstablish an NCI SBIRDevelopment Center to 

- _Enhancement_Establish an NCI SBIRDevelopment Center to
- Optimally Manage
- the Program

## Development Center Goals

**Development Center Goals**

**Assemble the scientific and business expertise needed to optimally manage the SBIR program**
**Integrate all SBIR initiatives with NCI’s program priorities**
**Foster collaborations with other Institutes at NIH which share common technology needs**
**Offer services on a reimbursable basis**
***Increase the return on investment for the SBIR program***

## Key Activities and Metrics

**Innovation Metrics**
- Invention disclosures, patents, publications
**Commercialization Metrics**
- Number of products impacting the cancer community, cumulative sales, license agreements
- FDA approvals for marketing
- Company sold or merged, acquisition of outside capital

**Improvement Over Previous Rounds**
- Number and quality of proposals received
- Achievement of technical and commercial milestones
- Number of Phase I awardees who successfully compete for a Phase II award

**Key Activities and Metrics**

**Long-term Metrics (3-5 years)**

**Near-term Metrics (1-3 years)**

**Market the program to attract the best companies**
**Relationship building with stakeholders**
**Active management of projects and better oversight**

**Facilitate success through mentorship**
**Create investor networks focused on commercializing cancer technologies**
**Examine correlations between activities and outcomes; fine tune the program**

**Center Activities**

## Enhancement Focus Solicitations on Commercially Viable Technologies

- _Enhancement_ **Focus Solicitations on Commercially Viable Technologies**

## NCI is Moving to More Focused Solicitations

**Goal is to improve commercialization success by:**
**Investing in technology priorities of NCI that also have the greatest potential for commercialization**
**Catalyzing targeted technology development and drawing private sector investment in key areas (e.g., therapeutics)**
**Benefits**
**Ability to manage the awardee’s progress toward specific milestones and the development of a product**

## Examples of NCI SBIR Technology Priorities

**Examples of NCI SBIR Technology Priorities**

**Nanotechnology Imaging and Sensing Platforms for Improved Diagnosis of Cancer**

- To support the development of nano-enabled platforms for early detection and/or imaging, or for post-treatment monitoring to detect recurrence of disease
- Goal is to enhance clinical diagnosis of cancer

**Development of Anti-Cancer Agents**

- To support the investigation of candidate therapeutic agents to establish the rationale for continued development to the point of filing an IND
- Compounds may be chosen from a list provided by NCI or by the small business

**Biomarker Development for Early Detection & Diagnosis of Cancer**

- To support the development  of high-throughput antibody arrays for the quantitative analysis of multiple biomarkers
- Goal is to provide new tools for the early detection and diagnosis of cancer

**Biopsy Instruments and Devices that Preserve Molecular Profiles in Tumors**

- To support the development of devices with potential for stabilizing the molecular profile of cancerous lesions in visceral tissue sites during clinical biopsy procedures
- To improve the accuracy of biomarker assessment for diagnosis and prognosis

## Success Stories

- _Success Stories_

## Success Stories

**Naviscan **(San Diego, Calif.)
**PEM Flex****TM**** PET Scanner has unprecedented 2 mm imaging capability enabling detection of the earliest stages of breast cancer (in situ) and tumors less than 2 millimeters in size with very high accuracy and sensitivity (93%). This cannot be achieved by any other modality, including MRI and is important for early detection.**

**Highlights**
**SBIR funding received from 1994-2005**
**FDA-Cleared in July 2003**
**Venture-backed capital received in 2005**
**40 Employees**

- Tomographic PEM

## Success Stories

**Xenogen and Spectros**
**Dr. Benaron has founded five optical imaging systems companies since 1986. Three companies that received NCI SBIR funding succeeded; two that did not, failed. Xenogen’s In Vivo Imaging System and Spectros T-Stat ischemia detection device have both achieved success.**

**Highlights**
**Xenogen sold for $80 million to Caliper Life Sciences in 2006; remains a leader in drug discovery/research optical molecular imaging systems**
**Spectros T-Stat first device approved by U.S. FDA for ischemia detection.**

- Spectros T-Stat Monitoring Infant

## Success Stories

**NovaRx **(San Diego, Calif.)
**Patented vaccine technology that blocks ****the effects of TGF-β so that the vaccine is more potent in amplifying the immune system’s ability to destroy cancerous cells. As compared to current approved therapies, LucanixTM(lung cancer vaccine) shows dramatic increase in median survival time (581 days vs. 240 days) and 2-year survival rates (47% vs. < 20%). It has received fast-track status from the FDA to accelerate the speed to which this promising vaccine reaches patients. **

**Highlights**
**SBIR funding received from 2002 through 2010 **
**2 Phase III clinical trials (lung cancer and glioma)**
**Venture capital raised matches SBIR funding **
**Additional vaccines for other tumor sites are being explored and show great promise.****  **

- Post-Therapy

- Pre-Therapy

## For More Information

**Michael Weingarten**
**Director**
**NCI SBIR Development Center**
**Phone: 301-496-4413**
**weingartenm@mail.nih.gov**

**For More Information**