Earning Criteria

• Prerequisites: 1. Submission of a Notice of Invention Form to Innovation Ventures in the Rutgers Office of Research, pursuing intellectual property protection through the development of a provisional patent application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 2. Submission of a Pre-Qualification Form to the HealthAdvance program. 3. Receipt of an invitation to submit a full application to HealthAdvance for commercialization funding.
• Basic Understanding of Product Development and Commercialization: Documented completion of a minimum of 2 “Road to Commercialization Symposias” [Innovation and Commercialization 101 Bootcamps] within a single year.
• Preparation and submission of a HealthAdvance/Xpress application for commercialization funding. This entails working no less than 22 contact hours with a program-appointed Mentor-in-Residence, a subject matter expert, who will: assess the project’s feasibility, relevance and impact; provide consultation and guidance on product development and commercialization plan; and instruct applicant on crafting application sections.
• Developing and submitting a HealthAdvance application to further develop a specific technology. Application consists of various segments including defining the unmet need, description of innovative solution, market landscape, competitive advantage, intellectual property strategy, project plan, funding needed to reach a viable exit or major inflection point, regulatory and reimbursement strategy, and team strengths.
• Revising application based on HealthAdvance’s industry expert reviewers’ evaluations and comments. This is an iterative process of revision and required consultations with reviewers over a period of 45 days and at least one iteration.