PRIA Logo™
119-s-1660119th CongressWALLET

Research Advancing to Market Production for Innovators Act

Sponsored By: Senator Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]

Introduced

Summary

Refocuses SBIR and STTR on commercialization. The bill would tighten review rules, push agencies to support market-ready technologies, expand technical and patent help, and require new reporting on commercialization outcomes.

Show full summary
  • Small businesses and awardees would get more choice and help. Recipients could select outside technical or business assistance, add cybersecurity protections, and use awards to join I‑Corps teams. The bill caps Phase I assistance at $6,500 per project and Phase II assistance at $50,000 per project.
  • Federal agencies and program operations would shift toward market outcomes. Peer review would have to assess commercialization likelihood and include at least one commercialization expert, with some review timeframes shortened to 180 days. Agencies face per-year SBIR/STTR award caps generally at 10 percent of their program funds and 15 percent for NIH.
  • Oversight and intellectual property support would increase. The SBA must produce an annual commercialization impact assessment covering firms with at least 50 Phase II awards in a nine fiscal year lookback and report metrics like revenue, Phase III awards, patents, and external investment. The bill also directs the SBA to work with the USPTO to speed patent examination for SBIR/STTR recipients and boost outreach on patent help and scam prevention.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.

More commercialization help for small businesses

If enacted, SBIR or STTR award recipients would be able to use up to $6,500 per Phase I project and up to $50,000 per Phase II project for technical or business help. Cybersecurity assistance would be added as an eligible service. Award funds could be used to hire or augment staff and to pay for training. Agencies with I-Corps programs would have to offer an I-Corps teams course option and let awards pay for participation. Agencies could run targeted reviews of how assistance funds are used.

New commercialization officials and patent help

If enacted, each agency that runs SBIR or STTR would have to name a Technology Commercialization Official to guide awardees, identify projects ready for Phase III, coordinate across agencies, and report yearly. The SBA would also work with the Patent Office to create a prioritized patent examination program for award recipients and do outreach about self-help and scam-prevention services.

Faster market-focused SBIR and STTR reviews

This bill would cut the maximum SBIR and STTR peer review time from 1 year to 180 days. It would also require, when practical, that panels judge a project's likelihood of commercialization and include at least one reviewer with commercialization expertise.

Limits on agency phase-flex awards

For fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027, the bill would limit each agency to using no more than 10% of its SBIR/STTR funds for phase-flex awards each year. The National Institutes of Health would be limited to 15% in those years. This would restrict how much agencies can spend on those flexible awards yearly.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]

DE • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Curtis, John R. [R-UT]

    UT • R

    Sponsored 5/7/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation