Written by Glenn Miller, Market Sector Leader, Mass General Brigham Innovation
The Unmet Need
What specific clinical need does your intended product address? A clear statement of the proposed product’s use in improving human health followed by how the product might affect the stakeholders if successfully used is ideal. Would the product be used only in high complexity medical or laboratory environments, or could it be used in a community setting?
What are the expected clinical outcomes should the product be commercialized? Making an affected patient’s life definably better with a specific product easily used by a healthcare provider at a reasonable cost to the payer is an ideal answer to this question.
The Proposed Product
Give a clear, concise description of the future product. This description should anticipate developmental success resulting in a marketed therapeutic, medical device, or diagnostic. The answer to this question should provide a clear picture of the product in the healthcare context.
Describe where the product would be used. Only in high complexity medical or laboratory environments, or could it be used in a community setting? Who will use the product? Will a primary care clinician use it in an office setting, or must the patient be admitted to a tertiary care facility? Provide more detail to the information provided in Question 1 about how the product will result in better care, more efficient use of current standards of care, or be less expensive.
Provide a brief overview (you will have more space for supporting data in the full application) of the current knowledge supporting your product’s anticipated benefits. The data should address the question of why you think your product can succeed in the marketplace.
Intellectual Property
Have you interacted with the Mass General Brigham Innovation Team specifically about this product concept or related inventions?
Have you submitted Invention Disclosures?
Have patents been filed and/or issued? If so, who is the patent assignee?
If your work is a collaborative effort or begun at another institution not affiliated with Mass General Brigham, please describe any intellectual property filings to date and to which person(s) or entity(s) the IP is assigned.
Finally, provide a brief description of IP claims included in the filings and what those claims cover. You may need to consult with your Mass General Brigham Innovation Licensing Manager to assist you with this Question.
The Project Plan
This is the critical Question of the application. Question 4 gets to the heart of the difference between research funding supporting general scientific inquiry and the use of Ignite funds to move a product forward towards a commercial outcome.
For this question, please provide a logical, connected and direct product development plan resulting in achievable outcomes described in milestones on a timeline.
Describe the key milestones and how success will be measured. Make very clear the milestones to be addressed with Ignite funds (either the $50,000 Seed award or the $200,000 Development award).
Provide information on the feasibility of completing these milestones in the time described and with the funds provided.
Most importantly, describe how the use of the Ignite funds will be used to advance the product development and what that advancement might mean to encourage future funding and increase the likelihood of product development success.