TRANSFER Act Aims to Aid Tech Transfer between Labs and Startups

Throughout its history, NVCA has strongly supported the allocation of federal funds for research at universities, nonprofit research institutes and federal laboratories. That’s because America’s entrepreneurs often take the groundbreaking discoveries generated in these settings today and turn them into the life-saving and life-changing products of tomorrow. However, this process can only take place if the innovative breakthrough is transferred successfully from the lab to a startup that can develop it and bring it to market.

In recent years, this transfer has become increasingly difficult. Specifically, a funding gap has emerged between the discovery stage for transformational technologies and their commercialization. This gap has slowed or blocked the path to market for countless innovations. Fortunately, help may be on the way in the form of the Technology and Research Accelerating National Security and Future Economic Resiliency (TRANSFER) Act of 2013. The TRANSFER Act aims to address the funding gap directly by enabling faculty and researchers at America’s research institutions to undertake proof-of-concept, scaling up, and modeling research for technologies that many investors may consider too early-stage to fund.  NVCA believes that this will help fill the funding gap and speed new research discoveries more efficiently to the marketplace, where they can benefit all Americans. In the process, it will increase the impact of every federal dollar spent on research, spur the creation and growth of innovative startup companies, and generate jobs and economic growth.

NVCA commends The House Science Committee for its bipartisan work on this legislation – including its Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Ranking Member Eddie Johnson (D-TX), and the leadership of the Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Larry Bucshon (R-IN) and Ranking Member Dan Lipinski (D-IL) – for its work on the TRANSFER Act of 2013. The committee’s commitment to dialogue and stakeholder engagement has produced a bill that is practical, measured and capable of drawing broad bipartisan support. For these reasons, NVCA looks forward to the opportunity to assist and support the passage of this bill in any way it can.