How BW&CO Helped a Women-Owned MedTech Startup Win a $312,559 NIH Phase I SBIR Award
$312,559 NIH Phase I SBIR Award Secured
Services: SBIR Strategy, Grant Writing & Submission Support
Overview
A women-owned, socially and economically disadvantaged medical device startup had developed a novel approach to reducing healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) — a persistent and costly problem in clinical settings nationwide. The company needed to translate compelling preliminary research into a competitive federal grant application. BW&CO partnered with the founding team to develop and submit a Phase I SBIR application to the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), securing a $312,559 award that will fund the next stage of product validation and research.
The Challenge
Healthcare-acquired infections affect nearly 2 million patients in the United States each year, resulting in approximately 98,000 deaths and an estimated $55 billion in annual economic burden. The rise of antibiotic-resistant strains has made the problem increasingly urgent, as standard treatments lose efficacy and patients face longer hospitalizations, ICU stays, and higher mortality rates.
The client had identified a specific, underexamined transmission pathway: nonsterile disposable gloves used by healthcare workers. Their preliminary data suggested that standard glove dispensing and donning practices exposed gloves to multiple sources of microbial contamination — from hand microbiota to airborne pathogens settling on open glove boxes in active patient rooms. They had developed a single-dispense glove system designed to address this problem at the point of use. The challenge was articulating the scientific rigor and commercial potential of this innovation in a way that would satisfy federal reviewers — while meeting the strict formatting, narrative, and compliance requirements of an NIH SBIR submission.
Our Approach
BW&CO provided end-to-end SBIR application support, working closely with the client's scientific team to build a submission that was both technically credible and strategically positioned for award. Key workstreams included:
Opportunity assessment and solicitation alignment: Identifying the most competitive program and solicitation topic code for the innovation and confirming fit with NCEZID funding priorities
Narrative development: Translating the client's preliminary research and product concept into a clear, reviewer-ready project summary, specific aims, and research strategy
Significance and innovation framing: Articulating the public health stakes, the gap in current infection control protocols, and the differentiated value of the single-dispense system relative to existing glove products
Approach and experimental design support: Structuring the Phase I research plan to demonstrate scientific merit, feasibility, and a credible path to Phase II
Compliance and submission management: Ensuring all application components met NIH formatting requirements and were submitted through the appropriate federal systems on time
Results
BW&CO's support resulted in a fully competitive, awarded Phase I SBIR application — a $312,559 contract from the CDC to fund laboratory validation of the client's glove system in active clinical environments. The funded research will assess both the microbial contamination present on standard glove boxes over time and the efficacy of the client's dispensing innovation in limiting that contamination.
For a early-stage, founder-led company navigating the federal funding landscape for the first time, this award is a significant inflection point. It provides non-dilutive capital to advance the science, establishes federal validation of the problem and approach, and positions the company to pursue Phase II funding — and ultimately, commercial adoption — within the healthcare infection control market.