Thursday, July 27, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kit Bond, a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, today announced that his efforts to restore access to critical Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants cleared an important hurdle.

"For the past 20 years, the SBIR program has been a catalyst for developing our nation’s most successful biotechnology companies. Today’s fix will ensure these companies again have access to important federal grant dollars, critical funding for developing lifesaving drugs, vaccines and treatments," said Bond. “Thanks to biotechnology, the United States is the world leader in innovation. Only through a strong partnership between the federal government and the private sector will our country remain at the forefront of this cutting-edge field."

Bond’s amendment to the Small Business Reauthorization bill was passed by the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee today. Before the language becomes law it must be passed by the full Senate, reconciled with the House of Representatives bill and signed by the President. Bond’s amendment will ensure the continued growth of biotechnology in the United States by restoring access to critical SBIR grants.

Biotechnology research suffered a major set-back when the Small Business Administration (SBA) determined that venture-backed biotechnology companies can no longer participate in the SBIR program. Bond’s amendment to the SBA Reauthorization bill, will ensure that the biotechnology industry has access to these crucial grants, helping to level the playing field by allowing venture backed small businesses to compete for up to 25 percent of an agency's SBIR funds.

Previously, the SBIR program was an example of a highly successful federal initiative to encourage economic growth and innovation in the biotechnology industry by funding the critical start-up and development stages of a company. Traditionally, to qualify for an SBIR grant a small-business applicant had to meet two requirements: one, that the company have less than 500 employees; and two, that the business be 51 percent owned by one or more individuals. However, since 2003 the SBA determined that the term “individuals” only means natural persons. Prior to this decision, for the past 20 years the term "individual" included venture-capital companies. As a result, biotech companies with 51 percent or more venture-capital backing can no longer participate in the program.

Bond, who has been an advocate for biotechnology since he served as Missouri’s Governor, stressed that the biotech industry is like no other in the world because of the long span of time and intense capital expenditures required to bring a successful product to market. According to a recent study completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, it takes roughly 10-15 years and $800 million dollars for a company to bring just one product to market.

Bond has worked to pass his Save America's Biotechnology Innovative Research Act since 2004. Today’s amendment to the Small Business Reauthorization bill is compromise language of Bond’s legislation.

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