LETTERS OF SUPPORT
Letters of support are very important to include in your application. These letters fall into several different categories. These categories include: significance, investigators, and environment.
Letters of support for Significance are important because they are actions of Significance and thus carry more weight than the words in the Significance section of the application. They are not as strong as actually purchasing a product or actually giving money to support development of the project, but if you can shown commitment of matching funds or previous funding from Angel or Venture groups, that is very strong support.
Like most people, reviewers like to come to their own conclusion about Significance. However, a small percent of reviewers actually have the world view and technical knowledge to make the appropriate assessment. This weakess (such a small percentage of people who have what it takes to recognize Significance) is generally recognized by the NIH itself. Steps are being taken to try and rectify this situation. It is not an easy situation to rectify, however. Nonetheless, you can help yourself by defining Significance for the reviewers by providers the appropriate letters from outside experts and companies. The reviewers will not always listen, but it is the best you can do at the moment.
Letters of Significance fall into two categories: desire to purchase the product and desire to financially (or in kind) support development of the product.
The first type of letter is from end users. The second type of letter is from a co-developer, marketer, or purchaser of the technology.
Letters from end users should be from key opinion leaders (KOLs) who will actually use the product. A KOL are the people who write the most review articles in a given area. The qualify as a KOL, every established person in a field must recognize this person’s name.
It is important to provide a letter of support from one to three KOLs. The letter should start with the title of the application and the submission date. Next, the KOL should give their relevant background information, as a way of establishing their credentials. Next, the KOL should state something to the effect that “This is a valuable and innovative product……say why it is valuable and innovative….” If as all possible, it is good to have a statement of willingness to try out the product during the product development and provide feedback. Finally, the letter should conclude with a strong statement of desire to use or purchase such a product once it is available.
It is important to remember that this is not a letter of commitment to buy a product, as no product has yet been developed, therefore its final specifications are not yet known.
As an alternative to a KOL, a large end user is equally valuable, as long as the end user is a recognized entity. For example, several letters from the heads of high throughput screening departments at recognized drug companies would be persuasive of the Significance of a product to be developed.
Next week, I will address more aspects of these important letters of support.
For more specific and additional information on this topic, click on this link: High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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