A Strategic Source of Funding from Basic Research to Clinical Trials

Non dilutive funding is available for every conceivable kind of research or development effort, whether it is an academic or industry project. Government agencies, as well as state organizations and private foundations, release daily hundreds of different solicitations covering topics that are of interest to public health and medical and life science research. Although these are just a small portion of the total number of awards granted annually by NIH, DOD and other such organizations, they represent a great funding opportunity for researchers within industry and academia. A greater number of awards are granted to unsolicited investigator initiated projects, focusing on virtually every field and every stage of research and product development. Research funded covers all ranges of scientific endeavors, from basic science, whose applications are not yet known, to product-oriented and translational research, clinical trials, training grants, and construction projects to provide facilities for research and medical care.

Funding agencies cover very small to very large scopes of projects. The NIH has mechanisms to fund exploratory research, where only an initial direction is being investigated to see if it’s worth pursuing. These are typically of short duration and a more limited budget. Standard R01 grants are geared towards research in progress, driven by a hypothesis and supported by strong preliminary data. These projects typically last up to 5 years, with a budget of $1-3M. It is important to stress and clarify that ALL entities are eligible for funding from such sources and are eligible to receive such awards, including for-profit companies, foreign entities and academic research organizations. In addition to these, American small businesses are also eligible for SBIR and STTR grants, geared towards development of products with commercial potential. Large scale grants and contracts offer sizable sources of funding of greater than $5M to cover large scale clinical trials, major construction projects and more.

FreeMind Group helps researchers in every field, every stage, and every scope of biomedical research and development, and for all research entities, academic and industry alike. In many cases, a process that started in an early pre-clinical stage application and award has then grown to clinical stages awards.

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Leveraging the Work of Academic Centers

Over the last decade, many academic institutions established specialized centers that articulate their expertise in specific fields. These centers have the advantage of highly specialized human and physical resources. By virtue of their specifically defined purpose, they bring together the top experts in the field, working in proximity to each other for mutually beneficial and especially productive research.

In order to cultivate their centers, academic institutions must confirm that centers and their researchers are adopting a strategic approach towards non dilutive funding. That approach must take into account the center mission, resources, challenges and the changing funding atmosphere in order to be able to identify all of the relevant funding opportunities, both solicited and unsolicited and make the most of these opportunities to maximize the level of funding brought to the center and the institute at large.

FreeMind, through its experience working with academic and other large research institutes is particularly poised to work with academic centers as a whole or with any of their constituent laboratories, in order to secure funding for the specialized research that is conducted. We work with the administration to devise a strategic plan that incorporates a global view of the center and its special needs. We then assist with the compilation of all grants and contracts, including center grants, construction contracts and other applications to secure funding for establishing the center’s infrastructure and research capabilities. And as with any other researcher, we work with the center’s scientists on an individual basis to obtain funding for their laboratories

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