SSTI Digest

For the first time and in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) together with the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) has activated the NIH Urgent Award mechanism. The targeted opportunity is intended to provide funds for NIH grantees applying to expand the scope of their active grant. Last month, NIAID and NIGMS published a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) “to highlight the urgent need for research on the 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). NIAID is particularly interested in projects focusing on viral natural history, pathogenicity, transmission, as well as projects developing medical countermeasures and suitable animal models for pre-clinical testing of vaccines and therapeutics against 2019-nCoV.”

The biotechnology industry has made progress in increasing representation, especially in pre-revenue, smaller and private companies, however, diversity and inclusion programming is still in the nascent stages at most companies responding to a survey by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). BIO published its first annual survey on the industry’s progress in its report, Measuring Diversity in the Biotech Industry: Building an Inclusive Workforce.

The report analyzes data from a survey of 100 BIO member companies and shows that responding companies reported that of their employees overall, 45 percent are female and 32 percent are people of color. Those numbers decrease at higher levels with 30 percent having female executives and 18 percent female board members. The representation of people of color is lower as well, with companies reporting that 15 percent of executives and 14 percent of board members are people of color.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently proposed rule changes that aim to make fundraising easier for new companies, including by expanding crowdfunding’s applicability and allowing for “demo day” communications. The changes target three particular methods of exemptions: Regulation A, Rule 504 of Regulation D, and Regulation Crowdfunding.

Organizations using a web address ending in .ORG should be aware of an upcoming change affecting website registrations. In brief, the nonprofit manager of the .ORG top-level domain is requesting permission from ICANN, which is ultimately responsible for domain registration, to a private equity firm. Opponents of the sale have asked ICANN to step in to find a new nonprofit manager, which has, in turn, prompted Ethos Capital, the prospective firm, to propose a binding addition to the .ORG contract.

The first of these additional provisions would be to limit price increases to an average of 10 percent per year for eight years — sufficient to double the cost of registration over this period — and with no price protections after this point. Other provisions would create a “Stewardship Council,” with input on policies but no say over financial matters, and a $10 million fund for the council to use to support nonprofits. Ethos says they are giving ICANN an extension for their review of the proposed transfer until March 20.

A recent New York Times article points to high-profile stumbles by tech startups, particularly underwhelming IPOs by billion-dollar companies and thousands of people laid-off, and declares “start-up bloom deflates, tech is humbled.” As SSTI expressed concern about in the past, the trends of equity capital being invested at later stages, companies remaining private for longer, and (relatedly) valuations inflating beyond reason, have clearly set up the broader venture capital market for high-profile failures.

STEM and the American Workforce, a new report backed mostly by science associations, points to STEM jobs as one-third of direct employment, two-thirds of total employment, and 69 percent of America’s GDP. The authors highlight that 60 percent of STEM jobs are filled by people without bachelor’s degrees. Those are eye-popping numbers until one starts to dig into what the report considers a STEM job, which were decided on a case-by-case basis according to the occupation’s sector and educational requirements. This is not the only recent STEM employment study to take an expansive view of the field. Earlier this year, the Idaho STEM Action Center reported that the number of unfilled STEM jobs in the state had doubled, to 7,633, in just three years. Digging into the state labor agency’s data indicates that a large portion of these openings are in healthcare, with the plurality of openings seeking registered nurses.

Two new reports, one from the National Association of Counties (NACO) and the other from the Pew Charitable Trusts, provide new data on the gaps in access to broadband and some tactics for how states can effectively develop their broadband expansion projects.

The NACO report provides an analysis of proprietary data gathered by the organization through a mobile app it developed and deployed last year. The app provides internet speed data based in more accurate geographical terms than the existing coverage maps from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which have received sweeping criticism on their accuracy.

Nine national, nonprofit think tanks and innovation-focused associations have written a letter urging the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations subcommittees to provide $50 million in FY 2021 for Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS; now Build-to-Scale). Similarly, 50 current and former awardees have written to ask Congress to continue expanding the program’s support. These efforts follow dozens of meetings between SSTI members and congressional offices early last month. Congress is already well into the FY 2021 appropriations process, holding numerous budgetary hearings and accepting formal funding requests from constituents.

As the country’s working age demographic continues to get older, state budgets, especially those in the Northeast, will face greater pressure from increased Medicaid costs, says a new report from S&P Global Ratings. Environmental, Social, And Governance: Increasing Generational Dependency Poses Long-Term Social Risks To U.S. States' Fiscal And Economic Stability examines those trends resulting from the shifting demographics. By 2035, the number of people age 65 and older is expected to outnumber those under the age of 18 for the first time in U.S. history. This is expected to create economic, fiscal and social challenges for state governments.

Proving that innovation is appealing to states regardless of their size or political leanings, new initiatives in both Democratic and Republican states, as well as large states like California and small states like Vermont, are driving innovation agendas into action in areas ranging from clean energy and aid for students and colleges, to new venture capital investments and bond financing to support business collaborations with higher education to help translate cutting-edge research into products and companies. It is important to note that these new initiatives are in addition to important work that is already occurring in many states. SSTI continues to bring you news of these actions as governors, legislatures, and economic development organizations capitalize on proven programs to build out their innovation economies, with several examples provided here.

Two more governors have delivered their state of the state addresses over the past two weeks, with help for students taking the stage in New Hampshire while California’s governor enumerated the state’s growth and strengths, but devoted most of his remarks to the ongoing problem of homelessness. There are just a few remaining addresses, and SSTI will continue to cover the governor’s remarks and bring you excerpts of their speeches as they relate to their innovation initiatives.

New Hampshire

In Feb. 13 address, Gov. Chris Sununu lauded the state’s population growth, credited the state’s workforce initiatives and said the state is now ranked as the third most popular destination in the Northeast for millennials.

Clean energy innovation provides an opportunity for state-level policymakers and other stakeholders to expand economic opportunities and increase the impact of federal activity on climate and energy while also creating local economic development opportunities, according to a new report. Regional Clean Energy Innovation, produced by the University of Maryland in partnership with Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), identifies a multi-step process for state-level policymakers to strategically advance clean energy innovation, based on a 50-state assessment and case studies of Colorado and Maryland.

Clean energy innovation offers many benefits to regional and state policymakers such as the opportunity to grow in-state research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and manufacturing firms, reduced costs of electricity for consumers through new technologies, and an environment with clean air and water. A number of key recommendations are made in the report; a few are highlighted here.