Small Business Innovation Research Program Provides Seed Funding for R&D

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, April 27, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Allegro 3D, Inc. has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant for $997,692 to conduct research and development (R&D) work on a novel high-throughput biofabrication platform. This platform can create physiologically relevant in vitro tissue models for diverse applications including drug testing, assay development, therapeutics, and biomedical research.

With the growing adoption of 3D human tissue models in the pharmaceutical industry, there is a critical need for advanced manufacturing systems enabling rapid and streamlined tissue fabrication methods that are compatible with already established high-throughput screening (HTS) platforms for preclinical drug testing.

To address these market needs, Allegro 3D is poised to develop advanced 3D bioprinting platforms. Allegro 3D produces novel 3D bioprinters for the direct manufacturing of 3D tissues within multiwell plates commonly used in HTS systems. Implementation of the proposed 3D bioprinting system enables in situ drug screening or assay testing directly within the wells. This approach can drastically improve biofabrication workflow efficiencies for the pharmaceutical industry and biomedical research community.

?Allegro 3D strives to provide transformative biofabrication solutions for the life science industry to advance human healthcare. We are grateful for NSF?s continuous support from Phase I to Phase II,? said Dr. Wei Zhu, CEO of Allegro 3D and Principal Investigator of this SBIR grant. ?Allegro 3D has recently launched its first bioprinter, Stemaker? Model D, for direct in-well printing of 3D human tissues. With the newly awarded Phase II grant from NSF, we aim to develop a next-generation 3D bioprinter with higher throughput for fabricating tissue models at the industrial scale to advance drug discovery and assay development.?

Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $256,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II (up to $1,000,000). Small businesses with Phase II funding are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.

?NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,? said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. ?With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.?

NSF accepts Phase I proposals from small businesses at any time. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America?s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process.

To learn more about America?s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/

About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs: America?s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million in funding to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America?s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.5 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

For more information, please contact :

Wei Zhu
Allegro 3D, Inc.
contact@allegro3d.com