Title:Evaluating the Success of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program: Impact on Biotechnology Companies in Pennsylvania
VOLUME: 2 ISSUE: 1
Author(s):Ian M. Silverman, Jennine M. Dawicki-McKenna, David W. Frederick, Chris Bialas, Jarrett R. Remsberg, Nicole L. Yohn, Nikolina Sekulic, Allen B. Reitz and Dennis M. Gross
Affiliation:Pennsylvania Drug Discovery Institute, Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, 3805 Old Easton Rd., Doylestown, PA 18902, USA.
Keywords:Biotechnology, Federal funding, Health and human services, Outcomes, Pennsylvania, Small business innovation
research, SBIR, Technological innovation.
Abstract:The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was created to stimulate technological innovation
and business development at early stage companies in the United States. In its 21-year history, the program has channeled
over $35 billion of public funds to private businesses in the form of approximately 137,000 grants. However, the question
of whether SBIR funding effectively spurs new innovation and promotes commercialization remains controversial. Here,
we review efforts to answer this question and perform an independent analysis to evaluate the success of the SBIR
program in a representative high technology industry. To do this, we systematically analyzed publicly available data for
biotechnology companies based in Pennsylvania that received SBIR funding through the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) between 1983 and 2014. Our analysis did not find any clear relationships between the amount of
SBIR funding received and acquisition of private funding or intellectual property. However, higher SBIR funding rates
were associated with current operating status and number of publications, indicating that these additional grants do
support commercial operations and the advancement of scientific knowledge. Taken together, our study provides a
comprehensive overview of the SBIR program for Pennsylvania biotechnology companies and reveals myriad uses for
federal funding to support company development and foster innovation for the public good. These findings underscore the
complexity of evaluating the SBIR program and the need for increased standardization and centralization of outcomes
data for this large and growing federal program.
