HJNO Nov/Dec 2021

54 NOV / DEC 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS COLUMN BIO INDUSTRY solutions in development have been vetted to a certain extent. An SBIR or STTR award can serve as a strong indicator to the in- vestor community that a company is onto something investment-worthy. Louisiana has a dedicated state-wide tech transfer office (Louisiana Tech Trans- fer Office) to support such startups, as do some Louisiana academic institutions that invest in supporting the research activities of their faculty and students (STTR awards require a partnership between a nonprofit research institution and the small busi- ness). There are folks all over Louisiana who monitor the number of SBIR/STTR applications submitted each year, the number of awards, the dollar amount of awards and from which federal agencies the awards were granted (e.g., Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, Na- tional Institutes of Health, and so forth). Additional metrics in the bio startup world — of which more attention is gain- ing — include who exactly is starting these companies and making life-changing breakthroughs. Unfortunately, bio com- panies founded and/or run by women and/or people of color have historically (and still are) underrepresented within the biotech industry in general. Furthermore, investment by the venture capital world into women and/or people of color-owned biotech companies is also sparse when compared to white and male counterparts. This is not simply a New Orleans or Lou- isiana issue, but instead a global concern. According to a survey report released from the Biotechnology Innovation Or- ganization (BIO) dated June 2021, entitled Measuring Diversity in the Biotech In- dustry: Advancing Equity and Inclusion, “Employees of color make up 32% of the overall workforce, 21% of executive teams, and 24%of CEOs. In this year’s sample, one The U.S. government has programs that aim to boost research and development activities of the small business private sector: the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The ultimate goal of these programs is to fund the exploration of new technologies in hopes that they will lead to commer- cialization and the subsequent creation of successful (job-creating) businesses that offer solutions to challenges in multiple industries, including but not limited to biotech, defense, healthcare, agriculture and more. When startups successfully earn these highly competitive grants, they enjoy multiple benefits. First and foremost, the young companies have non-dilutive, non-interest-bearing funding to continue their research and development activities. Secondly, the process signifies that the THE NEEDLE IS Moving