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Group says promising health research being stifled, asks Senate panel to allow venture-capital-owned biotechs to bid for grants
An interpretation of law by the Small Business Administration “stifles promising research that could improve the lives of people suffering from many debilitating diseases,” says a coalition of patient groups, medical and health science advocates.
The group, which includes the Alpha-1 Foundation and the Alpha-1 Association, wrote to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-LA, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, to request help in correcting the problem.
Specifically, the group asked the committee to “restore full access for majority venture capital-backed biotechnology and medical device companies to apply for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants.”
The group said current Small Business Administration guidelines “disqualify many start-up biotech and medical device companies, some of which have the greatest potential for successfully bringing a life-saving product to market.”
The committee is now considering a bill to reauthorize the SBIR grants.
