Direct to Phase II (D2P2)

Also called: DP2, Direct-to-Phase-II

A Phase II SBIR award made to a small business that did not receive a Phase I award for that project, because it has already shown feasibility by other means.

Direct to Phase II lets a company skip Phase I when it has already demonstrated feasibility and technical merit, for example with preliminary data or a prototype developed without SBIR funds.

DoW (formerly DoD) makes D2P2 awards only through clearly designated D2P2 topics. It does not accept Phase I proposals for D2P2 topics or D2P2 proposals for Phase I topics, and a D2P2 proposal includes separate feasibility documentation.

NIH also accepts Direct to Phase II applications from companies whose projects have shown feasibility and have significant preliminary data but have not received a Phase I SBIR or STTR. Not every agency offers this route, so check the solicitation.