NIDA FY22 START AN SUD STARTUP CHALLENGE INITIAL OBLIG

Investigators

Abstract

NIDA is reissuing this Challenge because of its continued success and strong popularity within the community. The Challenge is a competition for teams of participants with research ideas in the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) research area. These research ideas are purposefully intended to be the foundation for the development of new successful biomedical startups. NIDA offers up to $100,000 in monetary prizes and dedicated one-on-one technical mentoring from NIDA biomedical entrepreneurship experts. NIDA expects that this Challenge will inspire and enable the winning teams to test the premise that their SUD research idea can be fostered into a biotech startup. This Challenge is unique because NIDA intends to provide prize money and dedicated biomedical entrepreneurial assistance to the “would-be” startup founders much earlier than most investors, incubators, or traditional models of research funding (e.g., small business grants). However, NIDA anticipates that the newly created startups will eventually contribute to the pool of innovative small business companies that can successfully compete for NIDA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding. What does it take to participate in the Challenge? The participants must have a research idea directly related to SUD or that could be extended or adapted to be useful for SUD. For a platform technology, the research idea must be broad enough to address multiple conditions, diseases, or indications, including SUD. For example, if the idea would only work for cancer or diabetes, entering this Challenge is not appropriate. However, if the plan is to test an idea for a research tool that would further an understanding of neurobiology relevant to SUD to advance the field faster and with greater fidelity, entering this Challenge is appropriate. The participants must also intend to create a startup around their research idea to build the startup product for the target customers. Here, the term “product” is used in its broadest definition. A product is any source of value for the people who become customers. Services, subscriptions, software as a service (SaaS), physical/tangible products (biomedical devices, drugs, etc.), aggregations, etc. could all provide value and thus be considered startup products. The startup product could be the result of novel scientific discoveries, repurposing an existing technology for a new use, extending a research observation or discovery made in a different scientific field into the SUD area, devising a new business model or distribution/delivery channel that unlocks new value, or simply bringing a product or service to a previously underserved customer. The potential startup founders must have the passion, drive, discipline, and ability to work collaboratively to push forward under conditions of business uncertainty and have an eagerness to be coached. The teams must also have time to dedicate to the 6-month product development mentorship and the work involved. The mentorship curriculum will include monthly lectures, assigned work to be completed and provided to the team’s mentor, and monthly one-on-one meetings with the team’s mentor. The winners of this Challenge are encouraged and offered training to use the prize money to develop a minimum viable product (MVP), to obtain customer feedback to discover if the MVP meets the customer needs, and to assess the feasibility of science-based small business creation. Post Challenge, as with all other NIH grant applicants, NIDA staff will provide technical assistance and guidance about the grant submission process, including how to submit an SBIR/STTR application to NIDA’s small business programs.