San Diego Innovation Report
— 2019 —
Grants
Grants
Federal Research Grants — Highlights
Federal agencies significantly increased the amount of research grant money — $5.3 billion — invested into the San Diego region in 2019, up from $3.7 billion in 2018 and $2.4 billion in 2017. About 42 percent of total funding, more than $2.1 billion, goes to scientific research that provides a foundation for San Diego’s innovation economy. The major agencies that provide grant funding support to San Diego’s innovation economy are shown by the corresponding chart.
Over $92 million in Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR-STTR) grant funding was awarded to San Diego companies and institutions in 2018. This is about a $10 million increase from the $82 million awarded by the government programs in 2018.
The Department of Health and Human Services, primarily through the NIH, awarded over 50 percent of the total SBIR-STTR grants in 2019, totaling $49.3 million. This is a slight increase from the $42.5 million awarded in 2018.
The SBIR program encourages small businesses to engage in federal research/research and development (R&D) that has the potential for commercialization.
The STTR program encourages joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions.
Grants
Federal Research Grants — NIH Top Awards in California by City
San Diego county institutions and companies received more than $780 million in research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2019. La Jolla ranked as the number one city in California for NIH research funding in 2019 with more than $679 million awarded. In 2019, Los Angeles ranked second with $671 million awarded, and San Francisco ranked third with $652 million awarded. In 2019, the city of San Diego ranked eighth with $89 million awarded, a significant increase from the $46 million awarded in 2018. Another $12 million in NIH research grant funding was received by companies and institutions in Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, Del Mar, San Marcos, Oceanside and Cardiff.
Grants
Federal Research Grants — NSF Top Awards in California by City
La Jolla ranked as the number one city in California for NSF research funding received in 2019 with $83.1 million. The city of San Diego received only $13.8 million in grant funding in 2019, a significant decrease from the $75.1 million received in 2018. An additional $6.1 million in NSF research grant funding was received by companies and institutions in Chula Vista, San Marcos, Cardiff, and Carlsbad.
Grants
Federal Research Grants — Top Awards in California by Institution
UC San Diego ranked third in California for NIH funding received in 2019 with a total of $367 million awarded to researchers through 726 awards.The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla was also among the top seven California institutions with $135 million in awards. The San Diego institutions in the top 15 are highlighted in bold below. UC San Francisco ranked first in 2019 with $509 million and 826 awards.
NIH Grant Funding to Top California Institutions
| Institution | Amount Awarded | City | Number of Awards | |
| 1 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO | $508,779,406 | San Francisco | 826 |
| 2 | STANFORD UNIVERSITY | $394,846,375 | Stanford | 725 |
| 3 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO | $367,283,291 | San Diego | 726 |
| 4 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES | $358,936,545 | Los Angeles | 632 |
| 5 | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | $208,342,298 | Los Angeles | 373 |
| 6 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS | $171,790,881 | Davis | 376 |
| 7 | SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE | $135,052,469 | La Jolla | 213 |
| 8 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY | $120,405,243 | Berkeley | 237 |
| 9 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE | $118,988,867 | Irvine | 252 |
| 10 | KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE | $77,420,862 | Oakland | 89 |
| 11 | SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES | $71,656,725 | La Jolla | 90 |
| 12 | CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER | $66,652,012 | Los Angeles | 129 |
| 13 | CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY | $60,345,969 | Pasadena | 106 |
| 14 | BECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE/CITY OF HOPE | $49,437,014 | Duarte | 110 |
| 15 | SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE | $47,918,607 | La Jolla | 71 |
Grants
Federal Research Grants — Top Awards in California by Institution
UC San Diego ranked first for NSF funding in 2019, rising from third in 2018. In 2019 UC San Diego received $62 million awarded across 113 grants. UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the San Diego State University Foundation were also included in the top 15 grant awarded institutions in 2019.
NSF Grant Funding to Top California Institutions
| Institution | Amount Awarded | City | Number of Awards | |
| 1 | University of California-San Diego | $62,883,669 | San Diego | 113 |
| 2 | University of California-Berkeley | $40,818,749 | Berkeley | 114 |
| 3 | University of California-Irvine | $40,066,931 | Irvine | 110 |
| 4 | University of California-Los Angeles | $40,029,687 | Los Angeles | 105 |
| 5 | University of California-Santa Barbara | $39,076,924 | Santa Barbara | 83 |
| 6 | University of Southern California | $36,068,780 | Los Angeles | 94 |
| 7 | University of California-Davis | $31,875,670 | Davis | 93 |
| 8 | Stanford University | $31,769,088 | Stanford | 83 |
| 9 | California Institute of Technology | $25,960,199 | Pasadena | 53 |
| 10 | University of California-Riverside | $24,470,426 | Riverside | 57 |
| 11 | University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography | $17,471,373 | La Jolla | 35 |
| 12 | University of California-Santa Cruz | $14,386,867 | Santa Cruz | 48 |
| 13 | SRI International | $10,537,276 | Menlo Park | 8 |
| 14 | San Diego State University Foundation | $8,696,258 | San Diego | 21 |
| 15 | University of California – Merced | $7,503,295 | Merced | 16 |
Research Grants
Federal Grants — SBIR-STTR Awards
The SBIR program encourages small businesses to engage in federal research/research and development(R&D) that has the potential for commercialization.
The STTR program encourages joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions.
These grants provide valuable non-dilutive funding to small businesses to commercialize their research and development efforts. Both federal programs are administered by the Small Business Administration, and funded by federal agency budget allocations.
SBIR-STTR grant awards to San Diego companies and institutions in 2019 raised to $92.8 million from $82 million in 2018. The department of Health and Human Services, primarily through the NIH, awarded more than 50 percent of the total amount of SBIR-STTR grants awarded in 2019.
The number of SBIR-STTR grants awarded to San Diego companies and research institutions to San Diego companies and research institutions in 2019 decreased by one to 194 awards, from 195 awards in 2018.
Research Grants
Federal Grants — Top SBIR-STTR Awards by Company
| Company | Amount Awarded | Number of Awards | |
| 1 | Innoflight, Inc. | $4,549,606 | 6 |
| 2 | NANOCOMPOSIX INC | $3,676,648 | 7 |
| 3 | Vivreon Biosciences, LLC | $2,525,180 | 3 |
| 4 | Space Micro Inc. | $2,444,858 | 5 |
| 5 | ENGINEERING AND SOFTWARE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, INC | $2,399,634 | 4 |
| 6 | Crosslife Technologies Inc. | $2,198,978 | 5 |
| 7 | GLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONS, INC. | $2,050,000 | 4 |
| 8 | Diagnologix, LLC | $2,000,000 | 1 |
| 9 | SYNBAL, INC. | $2,000,000 | 1 |
| 10 | Peptide Logic LLC | $1,933,194 | 2 |
| 11 | Aethlon Medical, Inc. | $1,860,561 | 1 |
| 12 | DIRECT ELECTRON, L.P. | $1,676,323 | 2 |
| 13 | Parabilis Space Technologies, Inc. | $1,624,390 | 3 |
| 14 | Epigen Biosciences, Inc. | $1,559,437 | 2 |
| 15 | Clostra, Inc. | $1,499,994 | 1 |
| 16 | Advanced Coherent Technologies LLC | $1,499,984 | 1 |
| 17 | NU TREK INC | $1,499,900 | 1 |
| 18 | ADVANCED BRAIN MONITORING, INC. | $1,499,722 | 1 |
| 19 | ATA Engineering, Inc. | $1,474,187 | 6 |
| 20 | ELECTRONIC BIOSCIENCES, INC. | $1,427,566 | 3 |
| SBIR-STTR Activity – Top 20 Recipients in San Diego | $41,400,162 | 59 | |
| Total SBIR-STTR Activity – San Diego County | $92,730,385 | 194 |
Source: usaspending.gov; NIH; NSF; sbir.gov; Connect
