In collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) is introducing a pilot program that will help biomedical innovations advance into the marketplace. The I-Corps program provides biomedical researchers with the opportunity to work with experienced business instructors to seek potential markets for their innovations and learn how to integrate that into a successful business model.

The NIH has a number of institutes that plan to participate in the pilot program, which will add to the 300 teams that have already completed the I-Corps training. Michael Weingarten, director of the NCI SBIR Development Center, has witnessed the benefit of I-Corps, saying that the program “Will help teach NIH-funded start ups how to build scalable business models around new technologies they’re developing for the detection and treatment of disease.”

The collaboration with NIH and the introduction of this pilot program has greatly contributed to the development and efficacy of the I-Corps network. The National Science Foundation’s assistant director for engineering, Pramod Khargonekar, stated that with the program’s emphasis on life sciences, “We expect biomedical researchers will be better equipped to enter the business arena.”

To read the full news release on the NIH website, click here. Are you a start-up in need of regulatory, clinical, or product development support? Contact us at contact@pearlpathways.com.