The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) is the first and only trade group that advocates and lobbies on behalf of companies involved in neuroscience (drugs, devices, cell-based therapeutics and diagnostics), brain research institutes, patient advocacy groups, and brain research foundations worldwide.
NIO is working on programs that could translate into millions of dollars to your company's bottom-line and billions of dollars for commercial neuroscience. Your membership is critical to get our legislative initiatives organized and passed.
We must act now to instigate changes that will stimulate neuroscience innovation. With a widening of the 'valley of death,' continuing regulatory uncertainty and the growing cost of CNS clinical trials, only NIO is targeted enough to drive specific change that will positively impact organizations involved in commercial neuroscience while being broad enough to garner a wide base of support to push through substantial change.
NIO has momentum on our side with nearly 100 organizations joining us in the first three years.
If your organization is involved in neuroscience, we ask you to join NIO today to enable us to drive forward on these important initiatives. NIO is spearheading creative and effective legislation focused on accelerating innovation, increasing funding and speeding regulatory approval.
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National Neurotechnology Initiative Act (S.586, H.R.1483): Designed to increase private investment and accelerate the development
of treatments reaching the market, the NNTI employs targeted increases in
funding to improve Federal research coordination and ease bottlenecks that
inhibit the development of treatments for brain-related illnesses. The bill
contains $200M/year in additional funding for federal neuroscience
coordination, NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, NIH SBIR/STTR programs,
FDA staffing and training.
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Transferable Priority Review Vouchers for Severe and Neglected Brain
Diseases: A priority review voucher is an
incentive for companies to invest in new drugs and medical devices for severe
and neglected diseases of the brain and nervous system. The legislation would
authorize the FDA to award a 'transferable' priority review voucher to the
sponsor (manufacturer) of a newly approved drug, biologic or medical device
that targets severe and neglected brain diseases. The provision applies to New
Drug Applications (NDAs), Biological License Applications (BLAs), 505(b)(2)
applications, Premarket Approval applications (PMA) and Premaket Notification
510(k) applications. The voucher, which is transferable and can be sold,
entitles the bearer to a priority review for another product.
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American Brain Tissue Bank Act: There
is a national shortage of brain and spinal cord tissue needed to advance our understanding
of brain diseases. This shortage is dramatically reducing our ability to
develop treatments and cures for the 100 million Americans suffering from
neurological diseases and psychiatric illnesses. The ABTA would provide a
single national point of contact for individuals who wish to donate their
brain tissue; provide funding to network national brain tissue programs with
hospitals; funding to upgrade infrastructure at leading brain tissue banks;
provide funding to promote the benefits of donating brain tissue; designate
national day as 'National Donate Your Brain Tissue Awareness Day'
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Neurotechnology Defense Initiative:
Emerging neuroscience opportunities have great potential for the armed forces
including breakthroughs in learning, decision making, and performance under
stress, as well as new areas, such as cognitive fitness, brain-computer
interfaces, and biological markers of neural states. The dual use potential of
this research will have important implications for disease research and
treatment development. This act creates a central DoD center to monitor neuroscience
developments, disseminate relevant information across DoD and provides
significant new funding for translational neurotechnology programs.
NIO does more than lobby the Federal government on your behalf. We actively work with the media to promote coverage of advances at your company and the industry overall and create novel networking opportunities for member companies. We also have mechanisms in place for companies to develop working groups under the NIO umbrella. For example, companies can develop NIO/FDA working groups in order to work collaboratively with the FDA to improve the efficiency of the evaluation process for neuroscience products and to clarity during the regulatory process.
NIO is actively participating in a working group aimed at transforming the SBIR program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) from static grant processes to a proactive portfolio management approach. Viewed from this perspective, the NINDS SBIR program is a $240M neuroscience specific fund renewed every seven years. Among our recommendations: Set up a management structure similar to an early stage investment firm; Hire a group of full-time, managers to manage grants, projects and proactive outreach; Allocate more money to jump start innovation, expedited peer review, money 90 days from application; Create a new pathway for entities limited by 51% ownership requirement Develop a diverse, advisory board from academia, industry, government, and investment community to help this important program succeed
On February 10, 2010, NIO hosts our annual public policy tour in DC that is open to all NIO member executives. For one day we come together up on Capitol Hill to lobby your representative and senators on behalf of commercial neuroscience. Meet with your Senators and Congressional Representative and let them know about how your work in commercial neuroscience impacts the lives of their constituents and all Americans. We set up the meetings, NIO members just show up to share your experiences and support the legislation allocating new funding for neurotech.
On May 18-20, 2010 NIO hosts its annual Neurotech Investing and Partnering Conference along with a translational neurotech summit. This year the event will be held at Westin Boston Waterfront. Organized by NIO in coordination with NeuroInsights this market defining conference features keynotes on the state of the neurotech industry, cutting edge company presentations, and panel discussions on a comprehensive selection of topics of critical interest to commercial neuroscience.
As a member of NIO you will enjoy the following benefits:
- Influence in the industry's overall development agenda
- Additional access to key opinion leaders in Congress, regulatory agencies, media
- Participation in working groups, stakeholder meetings
- Expanded networking at neurotech investing and partnering events throughout the year
- Participation in neuroscience education awareness initiatives, public awareness campaigns
- Industry leadership through participation in driving innovative legislation
Like many of you, NIO has had to push hard this year to survive these more difficult times. NIO relies on member dues and sponsorships of our events to drive our legislative action items forward. Thankfully, we have a lot of returning members to support our work, but we also have a very full agenda ahead of us and to meet these objectives we must expand the NIO community. Now more than ever, we must pull together to promote innovation and the overall health of the industry.
In just three years, nearly 100 organizations have joined NIO in order to accelerate treatments and cures for brain and nervous system illnesses. I hope that you will consider joining them in support of our mission to 'give the brain a voice.' Please contact Zack Lynch to set up a phone call to discuss membership further (415-341-0193) or download a membership form here.
Overview
The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) is a non-profit 501(c)6 trade association that represents companies involved in neuroscience (neuropharmaceuticals, cell-based therapeutics, neurodevices and neurodiagnostics), academic neuroscience research centers, and brain-illness advocacy groups across the United States and throughout the world.
NIO was formed to provide a unified voice for the commerical neuroscience community. NIO advocates for its member organizations on a range of issues related to neurotechnology research and business development including favorable changes in the tax code, intellectual property issues, neuroethics, public policy, reimbursement and patient advocacy.
More questions?
Membership dues
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Meet the NIO team and advisors
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