News From the
Committee on Small Business
Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight
Jason Altmire, Chairman

For Immediate Release
February 13, 2008     

CONTACT: Tess Mullen – Altmire (202-225-2565) -- Erin Donar / Jaime Zapata,  (202) 226-3636

House Subcommittee Examines the Role of SBIR
in Fostering Medical Breakthroughs

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In medicine, innovation can mean the difference between life and death. The critical role U.S. entrepreneurs, and the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program that supports their R&D efforts, play in advancing medical research was the subject a hearing held today by the House’s Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, chaired by U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-4). Representatives from National Institutes of Health and small business owners testified about the unique role small firms play in discovering new medical breakthroughs.  In anticipation of Congressional reauthorization of SBIR, witnesses also provided insights on how to align the initiative with the nation’s current and future health needs.

“Small businesses have always been incubators for cutting edge ideas. The solutions to some of our most pressing medical challenges lie in their capable hands,” said Chairman Jason Altmire.  “SBIR’s success in helping entrepreneurs bring important medical advances to the marketplace has both improved our nation’s health care system and been an engine for economic development across the country.”

Witnesses, including a small business from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, noted that these firms have a particularly difficult time during the so-called “valley of death” period—when their start-up capital has run out and products are not yet ready for market.  Access to funding at this point in the R&D cycle is critical to ensuring that a promising medical innovation can move forward to manufacture and distribution.

“SBIR awards are crucial to translating the work of these small businesses into concrete medical advances that benefit ordinary citizens,” added Chairman Altmire. “When it comes to health related research and development, we have to ensure that research breakthroughs are not confined to the laboratory because firms lack the capital needed to develop and deliver these new advances to the patients that need them.”

Among other things, NIH explained that is depends largely on small business for work related to a variety of disorders known as “orphan diseases.”  These do not affect a large enough portion of the population to garner the attention of large pharmaceutical companies, but they are no less of a threat to individuals.  Small firms are far more flexible in structure that their large counterparts and frequently make advances in researching cures for these illnesses that help engender other medical advances. 

“By supporting these firms when they need help most, we can capitalize on their tremendous ingenuity to address public health concerns,” said Chairman Altmire. “That is exactly the kind of win-win investment that tax-payers expect and deserve.”

Click here for witness testimony

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