Obama Announces New Directives to Accelerate Technology Transfer and Commercialization — NIH Launches Expedited Start-Up License Agreements

In support of his "Startup-America" initiative, President Obama announced a new directive today committing each Federal agency conducting research and development to increasing the successful outcomes of technology transfer and commercialization activities significantly over the next five years. Actions from the directive include establishing goals and measuring performance, streamlining administrative processes, and facilitating local and regional partnerships. NIH is committed to these directives and has announced an important initiative, Start-Up License Agreements, in support of the directive to streamline administrative processes.

The NIH, through the Office of Technology Transfer, is offering a set of Start-Up License Agreements drafted to expedite the transfer of NIH and FDA owned patents for drugs and biologics under terms that are favorable to companies in a start-up phase. Companies can qualify for the licenses if they are less than 5 years old, have raised less than $5M in capital, and have fewer than 50 employees. NIH is offering an exclusive Start-Up Evaluation License Agreement for one year for a fee of only $2,000, which can be converted to a Start-up Exclusive Commercial License Agreement. Visit our Start-up webpage to learn more.