A few years ago I invented Buzzy, a handheld reusable device that decreases needle pain. I tried to get someone to license it, then decided after much anxiety and with the support of my husband to 'go for it'. We ran up our home equity line to the max and have been putting all our extra retirement money into the company. C'est la vie.... not sure that the past three years of investing would have amounted to much anyway!
A funny thing happened on the way towards spending our children's college fund; a friend who worked at the NIH told me about the Small Business Innovation Research grant. The critical step is having a good science question or specific R&D for a project with public health implications. Since clinical research has always been a big part of my job as a doctor, it was fairly straightforward to come up with the critical research questions to establish Buzzy's efficacy. It took about two months of setting up accounts with the government agency and ERA commons, the research interface.
They allow two revised submissions, with two different peer review vettings each submission to verify that the science is solid. My first two review groups either didn't like my science, didn't think needle pain was that big a deal, or didn't think the work was high enough priority.
The third time, however, we scored well and were funded! Our SBIR researching the effectiveness of vibration and cold for needle pain was for $960K, about 1/3 of which supports salaries and the running of the business. This allows us to get the company rolling without having to go to VC or angel investment. No NIH money can be used for marketing or inventory, but a 7% fee of 'profit' is allowed which can be used for anything.
Usual Phase 1 questions are funded for around $150k for 6 months, with a two year Phase 2 that has wide variation in funding. We did something called a Fast Track, when your science and production are ready and you can roll out Phase II with minimal changes expected from Phase I results. Phase I has a much higher acceptance rate, almost 25%, compared to Fast Track or Phase II.
If your project is science-heavy or needs a fair bit of R&D, consider grants as a funding opportunity. The initial outlay of work is significant, but there are ancillary advantages. Phase II requires a 15 page commercialization plan, which is in essence a typical business plan. The organization of this and the background investigation are useful regardless.
Two tips: the instruction manual is daunting, but detailed and easy to follow. They suggest creating your entire submission in one omnibus document and cutting and pasting into PDFs at the end. Ignore this suggestion at peril of about 15 hours, in the long run. Second, talk early and often to the science officers at the various NIH institutes. They're helpful, nice, and can orient you when your science compass is shaky.
Some of our science is on our home page, www.buzzy4shots.com. We've finished enrolling kids for our immunization study and are cranking our way toward checking out Buzzy for teenagers and babies. In the meantime, we were able to prove Buzzy helps IV pain for kids getting stuck in the Emergency Department! Feel free to email me with any questions!
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