Small Business Grants available for test method development

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the 2020 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Omnibus Grant Solicitations. These solicitations will be used by the National Institutes of Health and other offices within HHS to fund researcher-initiated projects in health, medicine, and life sciences.

Projects being funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under this solicitation include development of toxicity screening, testing, and modeling approaches that support Tox21 and other NTP goals. Areas of high priority include development of:

• Metabolically competent in vitro assay systems for various tissue types.
• Computational approaches for predictive toxicology.

The first deadline for applications under this announcement is September 5. More information is available on the NICEATM website at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/alt-funding.

NIEHS has also reissued the Funding Opportunity Announcement for its Commercialization Readiness Pilot program. These grants support commercialization of previously funded SBIR and STTR Phase II and Phase IIB projects by funding activities not typically supported through Phase II or Phase IIB grants or contracts. Small businesses that have had an active National Institutes of Health SBIR or STTR Phase II or Phase IIB award within the last 36 months are eligible to apply. Awardees will receive up to $300,000. Standard SBIR/STTR application deadlines apply for these grants; the next deadline is September 5. More information is available at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-20-128.html.