NIDDK SBIR/STTR Small Business Program

NIDDK SBIR/STTR — Next Opening

Supports the United States NIDDK small business innovation pathway across metabolic, digestive, and kidney research development.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) participates in the NIH-wide Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Omnibus Solicitation, providing non-dilutive grant funding to US small businesses conducting biomedical R&D across NIDDK's three extramural divisions: Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases; Digestive Diseases and Nutrition; and Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases. NIDDK accepts Phase I, Phase II, Direct Phase II (SBIR only), Phase IIB, Fast-Track, and Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) applications through the Omnibus. The program was reauthorized under the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act on April 13, 2026; NIH currently has no active Notices of Funding Opportunity and is reconstructing the parent NOFOs with the next standard receipt date of September 5, 2026.

NIDDK-specific budget caps apply: Phase I up to $350,000 total costs for up to two years; Phase II up to $2,200,000 total costs for up to three years (generally not exceeding $1,100,000 per year); Phase IIB up to $3,000,000 total costs for up to three years. Applications exceeding these caps require prior contact with NIDDK program staff and SBA-approved waiver topic alignment. An important restriction specific to NIDDK: clinical trial applications are accepted under SBIR but not under STTR. Applicants must be US small businesses in which more than 50% of equity is owned by US citizens or permanent resident aliens; universities, nonprofits, and research organizations are ineligible for SBIR/STTR as lead applicants.

Applications are almost entirely investigator-initiated and researcher-driven — NIDDK does not prescribe topics for the Omnibus, though it publishes Scientific Program Areas and ICO Funding Considerations to signal priority topics. Most winning applications address diabetes technology, kidney disease therapeutics, digestive disease diagnostics, or metabolic disorder interventions. Budgets exceeding caps require SBA waiver-topic alignment; applicants should contact NIDDK program officer Daniel Gossett (daniel.gossett@nih.gov) before submission. Three standard cycles occur annually: September 5, January 5, and April 5.