H. R. 1540—545 
the provision of notice of an award under the SBIR program or 
STTR program and the subsequent release of funding with respect 
to the award. 
‘‘(ii) REPORTING ON TIMING.—Federal agencies participating in 
the SBIR program or STTR program shall provide to the Adminis-
trator, for the annual report on the SBIR and STTR program 
under subsection (b)(7), the average amount of time the agency 
takes to make a final decision on proposals submitted under such 
programs, the average amount of time the agency takes to release 
funding with respect to an award under such programs, and the 
goals established to reduce such amounts.’’. 
SEC. 5127. PHASE 0 PROOF OF CONCEPT PARTNERSHIP PILOT PRO-
GRAM. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended 
by this title, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(jj) PHASE 0 PROOF
OF CONCEPT PARTNERSHIP PILOT PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Institutes 
of Health may use $5,000,000 of the funds allocated under 
subsection (n)(1) for a Proof of Concept Partnership pilot pro-
gram to accelerate the creation of small businesses and the 
commercialization of research innovations from qualifying 
institutions. To implement this program, the Director shall 
award, through a competitive, merit-based process, grants to 
qualifying institutions. These grants shall only be used to 
administer Proof of Concept Partnership awards in conformity 
with this subsection. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘pilot program’ refers to the Proof of 
Concept Partnership pilot program; and 
‘‘(C) the terms ‘qualifying institution’ and ‘institution’ 
mean a university or other research institution that partici-
pates in the National Institutes of Health’s STTR program. 
‘‘(3) PROOF OF CONCEPT PARTNERSHIPS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Proof of Concept Partnership shall 
be set up by a qualifying institution to award grants to 
individual researchers. These grants should provide 
researchers with the initial investment and the resources 
to support the proof of concept work and commercialization 
mentoring needed to translate promising research projects 
and technologies into a viable company. This work may 
include technical validations, market research, clarifying 
intellectual property rights position and strategy, and 
investigating commercial or business opportunities. 
‘‘(B) AWARD GUIDELINES.—The administrator of a Proof 
of Concept Partnership program shall award grants in 
accordance with the following guidelines: 
‘‘(i) The Proof of Concept Partnership shall use 
a 
market-focused 
project 
management 
oversight 
process, including— 
‘‘(I) a rigorous, diverse review board comprised 
of local experts in translational and proof of con-
cept research, including industry, start-up, venture
H. R. 1540—546 
capital, technical, financial, and business experts 
and university technology transfer officials; 
‘‘(II) technology validation milestones focused 
on market feasibility; 
‘‘(III) simple reporting effective at redirecting 
projects; and 
‘‘(IV) the willingness to reallocate funding from 
failing projects to those with more potential. 
‘‘(ii) Not more than $100,000 shall be awarded 
towards an individual proposal. 
‘‘(C) EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES
AND
GUIDANCE.—The 
administrator of a Proof of Concept Partnership program 
shall make educational resources and guidance available 
to researchers attempting to commercialize their innova-
tions. 
‘‘(4) AWARDS.— 
‘‘(A) SIZE OF AWARD.—The Director may make awards 
to a qualifying institution for up to $1,000,000 per year 
for up to 3 years. 
‘‘(B) AWARD
CRITERIA.—In determining which quali-
fying institutions receive pilot program grants, the Director 
shall consider, in addition to any other criteria the Director 
determines necessary, the extent to which qualifying 
institutions— 
‘‘(i) have an established and proven technology 
transfer or commercialization office and have a plan 
for engaging that office in the program’s implementa-
tion; 
‘‘(ii) have demonstrated a commitment to local and 
regional economic development; 
‘‘(iii) are located in diverse geographies and are 
of diverse sizes; 
‘‘(iv) can assemble project management boards 
comprised of industry, start-up, venture capital, tech-
nical, financial, and business experts; 
‘‘(v) have an intellectual property rights strategy 
or office; and 
‘‘(vi) demonstrate a plan for sustainability beyond 
the duration of the funding award. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS.—The funds for the pilot program shall 
not be used— 
‘‘(A) for basic research, but to evaluate the commercial 
potential of existing discoveries, including— 
‘‘(i) proof of concept research or prototype develop-
ment; and 
‘‘(ii) activities that contribute to determining a 
project’s commercialization path, to include technical 
validations, market research, clarifying intellectual 
property rights, and investigating commercial and busi-
ness opportunities; or 
‘‘(B) to fund the acquisition of research equipment or 
supplies unrelated to commercialization activities. 
‘‘(6) EVALUATIVE
REPORT.—The Director shall submit to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the 
Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
H. R. 1540—547 
of the Senate an evaluative report regarding the activities 
of the pilot program. The report shall include— 
‘‘(A) a detailed description of the institutional and pro-
posal selection process; 
‘‘(B) an accounting of the funds used in the pilot pro-
gram; 
‘‘(C) a detailed description of the pilot program, 
including incentives and activities undertaken by review 
board experts; 
‘‘(D) a detailed compilation of results achieved by the 
pilot program, including the number of small business con-
cerns included and the number of business packages devel-
oped, and the number of projects that progressed into sub-
sequent STTR phases; and 
‘‘(E) an analysis of the program’s effectiveness with 
supporting data. 
‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The pilot program under this subsection 
shall terminate at the end of fiscal year 2017.’’. 
Subtitle C—Oversight and Evaluation 
SEC. 5131. STREAMLINING ANNUAL EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 9(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (7)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘STTR programs, including the data’’ 
and inserting the following: ‘‘STTR programs, including— 
‘‘(A) the data’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘(g)(10), (o)(9), and (o)(15), the number’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘under each of the SBIR and 
STTR programs, and a description’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘(g)(8) and (o)(9); 
‘‘(B) the number of proposals received from, and the 
number and total amount of awards to, HUBZone small 
business concerns and firms with venture capital, hedge 
fund, or private equity firm investment (including those 
majority-owned by multiple venture capital operating 
companies, hedge funds, or private equity firms) under 
each of the SBIR and STTR programs; 
‘‘(C) a description of the extent to which each Federal 
agency is increasing outreach and awards to firms owned 
and controlled by women or by socially or economically 
disadvantaged individuals under each of the SBIR and 
STTR programs; 
‘‘(D) general information about the implementation of, 
and compliance with the allocation of funds required under, 
subsection (dd) for firms owned in majority part by venture 
capital operating companies, hedge funds, or private equity 
firms and participating in the SBIR program; 
‘‘(E) a detailed description of appeals of Phase III 
awards and notices of noncompliance with the SBIR Policy 
Directive and the STTR Policy Directive filed by the 
Administrator with Federal agencies; 
‘‘(F) an accounting of funds, initiatives, and outcomes 
under the Commercialization Readiness Program; and 
‘‘(G) a description’’; and
H. R. 1540—548 
(C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following: 
‘‘(9) to coordinate the implementation of electronic data-
bases at each of the Federal agencies participating in the SBIR 
program or the STTR program, including the technical ability 
of the participating agencies to electronically share data.’’. 
SEC. 5132. DATA COLLECTION FROM AGENCIES FOR SBIR. 
Section 9(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)), as 
amended by this title, is further amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (10); 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as paragraphs 
(9) and (10), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following: 
‘‘(8) collect annually, and maintain in a common format 
in accordance with the simplified reporting requirements under 
subsection (v), such information from awardees as is necessary 
to assess the SBIR program, including information necessary 
to maintain the database described in subsection (k), 
including— 
‘‘(A) whether an awardee— 
‘‘(i) has venture capital, hedge fund, or private 
equity firm investment or is majority-owned by mul-
tiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds, 
or private equity firms and, if so— 
‘‘(I) the amount of venture capital, hedge fund, 
or private equity firm investment that the awardee 
has received as of the date of the award; and 
‘‘(II) the amount of additional capital that the 
awardee has invested in the SBIR technology; 
‘‘(ii) has an investor that— 
‘‘(I) is an individual who is not a citizen of 
the United States or a lawful permanent resident 
of the United States and, if so, the name of any 
such individual; or 
‘‘(II) is a person that is not an individual and 
is not organized under the laws of a State or 
the United States and, if so, the name of any 
such person; 
‘‘(iii) is owned by a woman or has a woman as 
a principal investigator; 
‘‘(iv) is owned by a socially or economically dis-
advantaged individual or has a socially or economically 
disadvantaged individual as a principal investigator; 
‘‘(v) is a faculty member or a student of an institu-
tion of higher education, as that term is defined in 
section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1001); or 
‘‘(vi) is located in a State described in subsection 
(u)(3); 
‘‘(B) a justification statement from the agency, if an 
awardee receives an award in an amount that is more 
than the award guidelines under this section; and 
‘‘(C) data with respect to the Federal and State Tech-
nology Partnership Program (FAST Program);’’.