The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the departments of the Navy and Education awarded $31.6 million in obligations to nontraditional companies in fiscal years 2019 and 2020.
GAO said Friday the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) component accounted for the most awards to companies backed by private equity firms, venture capitalists and hedge funds during that time period as part of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.
