Innovation Partnership Federal Funding Bulletin

Volume 1, Issue 1 – April, 2003

Missile Defense Agency. Excerpt from MDA SBIR Tips on Writing a Press Release. Retrieved March 11, 2003, from http://www.winbmdo.com/press.HTML

Writing a press release is a good way to introduce your company to a very important audience -- the news media -- who will in turn report on your accomplishments so that an even wider audience will learn of your efforts. A single report that appears in the news media will give your company enhanced credibility simply because it was reported by a respected authority. Furthermore, if one media source reports an achievement, then others will usually follow-up on future developments.

A press release is basically an announcement to the public, by your company, concerning a specific accomplishment that you deem as noteworthy. The idea is essentially to publicize your particular news in order to increase positive visibility for the particular event. The event provides your company an opportunity to issue an announcement that it has received a new MDA SBIR contract, developed a new innovative product, or introduced a new service. For best results, press releases should be succinct, but no longer than two typed pages. It should also include the following information:

Once the press release is drafted, fax it to the appropriate media outlets, which should include your local newspaper's business section, news radio stations, local TV stations, and specific technology trade journals. You should include a cover letter and address it to the specific individual responsible for handling publicity. After the fax is sent, follow-up with a phone call and be prepared to address any questions that might be posed. Newsrooms get many faxes, announcements, and notices so yours could easily get buried or misdirected, so be prepared to re-fax if necessary.

“There is no grantsmanship that will turn a bad idea into a good one, but there are many ways to disguise a good one."
- William Raub, Past Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health

There is perhaps no greater resource for SBIR/STTR information than the Internet. Yet with the countless websites and list servers available, it can be hard to know where to begin. Finding the time to weed through them all presents another challenge. Fortunately, there are ways to have helpful information sent right to your email inbox.

The Economic Development Office of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) provides the SBIR/STTR Alerting Service. This is a free service that provides bi-weekly notification of SBIR/STTR solicitation announcements, news, information and numerous Internet resources. Three years’ worth of archived issues are available at http://www.pnl.gov/edo/sbir.stm. Typical items included are notification of changes in solicitation topics, presolicitation notices, workshop announcements and proposal writing tips. While PNNL’s focus is in the Washington state Tri-City region, the information provided on its website and particularly in the Alerting Service is of benefit to anyone applying for SBIR/STTR funding.

Those interested in subscribing to the SBIR-Alert mailing list should send an email to lyris@lyris.pnl.gov with the following in the subject line or body of your message (your name is optional):

To receive SBIR/STTR notices via FAX, send a request with your name, company, phone and fax number to (509) 372-4370. You may also subscribe, unsubscribe, and view back-issues of the SBIR Alert by visiting http://lyris.pnl.gov/cgi-bin/?enter=sbir-alert.

“Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.”
- Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr.

COMPANY NAME: LifeSensors Inc.
ADDRESS: 271 Great Valley Pkwy. Malvern, PA 19355
WEBSITE: www.lifesensors.com
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 16
NUMBER OF SBIR GRANTS AWARDED: 10
AWARDED BY: NASA, DoD, NIH, USDA

Founded in 1996, LifeSensors Inc. has worked to develop a method for engineering human receptor genes to be used as biosensors. These biosensors are then used to further study such areas as diagnostic product development, environmental screening, and drug research. In addition to biosensors, LifeSensors Inc. has developed a major technology platform for recombinant protein expression.

Dr. Tauseef Butt, President and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Hiep Tran, Director of Research, and Ms. Varsha Luthra, Director of Business Development, have all played an important role in LifeSensors’ SBIR success. Dr. David Counts, Director of Biosciences at Ben Franklin Technology Partners, has also been closely involved with the company’s successful quests for federal funding. According to Dr. Butt, both Dr. Counts and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners “have helped our company a great deal in getting started.”

According to Dr. Counts, over the past several years, the NIH has begun to change the way it disperses some of its SBIR money, due to the high cost of biotechnology development. “In the past, the highest amount of money one could receive in a Phase I grant was $100,000. NIH has realized that $100,000 is most often not nearly enough money to support a strong feasibility study in the area of biotech research,” he says. “The NIH wants new companies to have a strong start and have a solid foundation on which to build.”

Which is exactly what has happened for LifeSensors. With several $600,000 Phase I grants from NIH, the company has been able to research much more complex scientific issues and conduct more extensive feasibility studies than it would have otherwise been able to do with the lower Phase I dollar amounts.

When it comes to advice for applicants new to the SBIR process, these top executives are in agreement over one thing applicants should not do, and that is to give up. Drs. Butt, Tran and Ms. Luthra all point out that while competition is intense, with nearly half of all initial proposals being immediately rejected for the slightest of reasons, there are various things that can be done to better ensure a company’s chances for success at submitting a winning proposal.

“Don’t leave the details of putting the proposal together to the last minute. I think many people underestimate the huge process that is involved, saying to themselves, ‘Well, it’s just a grant.’ Putting an SBIR proposal together is serious work,” says Ms. Luthra. She emphasizes the importance of paying attention to all details, providing all the requested information in the appropriate format and attaching all necessary documentation.

Dr. Butt and Dr. Counts agree that possibly the most difficult, as well as most important, part of the SBIR application process is writing a “good, clean, clear objective” of what it is your company wants to accomplish. In highly scientific and complicated arenas such as biotechnology, this clarity can pose a challenge. Still, to be successful, a company must find a way to do it. “As far as the NIH is concerned, they are not looking for complex technology, or Gee Whiz ideas, nor are they looking for pedestrian ideas. They want something in between these two that works,” says Dr. Butt. “Complicated ideas, then, need to be synthesized succinctly.”

It is also important to leave the reviewers feeling confident that one's company has the adequate background and experience to be successful. “If a company has no experience in a certain area, reviewers sometimes become skeptical and perceive the company to be unqualified,” says Dr. Tran. He offers the example of LifeSensors successfully winning two SBIR awards in the area of vaccine development and protein expression. Because it had no prior experience with vaccine development, LifeSensors enlisted the help of a university professor with a strong background in vaccines to serve as a consultant. “It is very important to identify the leaders and experts in the field who are willing to support your grant and work with you,” says Tran.

According to Dr. Butt, there is no substitute for picking up the phone and asking for help. This assistance may come from a field expert, a proofreader to whom the information is new, or the agency to which you are applying. “Help is out there and is available. Most everyone is happy to help…all you need to do is ask,” he says.

Often the most challenging part of an SBIR project is translating the resulting technology into a commercially viable product or service. Typically researchers are quite familiar with their field of science but most are poorly prepared to outline a path from proof of concept in the laboratory to success in the marketplace. As with most subjects, it’s possible to increase your knowledge and skills in this area by learning from the experts.

In DOING IT RIGHT – Winning with New Products, Dr. Robert Cooper cites intimidating statistics: “Only one out of four development projects succeeds commercially and one-third of all new-product launches fail.” He advocates planning for the commercial market from the inception of a project, and offers ten “Critical Success Factors” that, based on his research, differentiate successful new product introductions from those that end in disappointment and wasted resources.

Following his discussion of these ten factors, Dr. Cooper provides an overview of the Stage-Gate™ process that offers a new product game plan built around them. The author claims this process has been adopted by a number of global firms, with “improved teamwork…earlier detection of failures…and even shorter cycle times (by about 30 percent).”

The methodology is clearly presented and, while your SBIR project team may choose not to fully adopt the rigorous Star-Gate process, at a minimum you would be wise to consider the 10 Critical Success Factors in planning your commercialization strategy.

Visit the Innovation Partnership web site at www.innovationpartnership.net for more information about the SBIR/STTR programs and resources available to help Pennsylvania entrepreneurs and researchers win a greater share of federal funding.

© 2003 Lytmos Group, LLC