Congressman Chris Collins from New York and Congressman Derek Kilmer from Washington co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to help scientists commercialize their ideas. As Collins reports, “This legislation addresses what we have heard time and time again called the “Valley of Death” where innovative new ideas die because there is no path to commercialization. This legislation mends that valley.”
The legislation “TRANSFER Act of 2013” would specifically award federal grants from agencies involved in technology transfer. The funding would go to innovative technology transfer programs at universities, research institutes, and national laboratories, plus other public and private non-profit entities, and consortia. The funding would be used to identify high quality commercially viable federally funded research and technologies and then rapidly accelerate the transfer of this technology into the marketplace.
Qualifying institutions could receive up to $1,000,000 per year for up to three years. Each qualifying institution that receives a federal grant must provide awards for individual projects of not more than $150,000 to be provided in phased amounts. The average amount provided to participants for research projects would be $50,000.
The grants awards must:
- Provide early-stage proof of concept funding for translational research
- Identify research and technologies at institutions with the potential for accelerated commercialization
- Support prototype construction, experiment analysis, product comparison, and collect performance data
- Provide market research information and help innovative leaders investigate commercial and business opportunities
- Provide advice, mentoring, entrepreneurial education, project management, along with technology and business development expertise
The legislation would require that data be collected. The data would need to include follow-on federal or private funding sources, the number of projects resulting in a license that went to a start-up or established company with sufficient resources for effective commercialization, information on invention disclosures and patents, the number of projects supported under the grant program, available information on revenue and sales on products that have been commercialized, number and location of jobs resulting from projects, plus the legislation would require developing a program evaluation plan.
The bill is supported by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of Independent Research Institutes, the Association of University Technology Managers, Battelle, SRI International, the National Venture Capital Association, plus a number of other groups.
The bill was introduced in August 2013 and on December 5th passed through the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to the House Committee on Small Business for approval.
For more information go to http://thomas.loc.gov.