Application FAQ
Application Process and Review
Eligible applicants are scientists from Yale with compelling projects that meet a new clinical demand or offer a significant improvement over an existing treatment.
The application format is non-traditional! Applicants should fill in the template PowerPoint slide deck with relevant information. Helpful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and tips can be found in “Notes” view within PowerPoint. Please note that your final PowerPoint slide deck is not limited to 11 slides; however the length should be kept reasonably short to enable a 20 minutes maximum oral presentation if the application advances to the next round.
No. All compelling assays or chemistry approaches which have a strong commercial and clinical potential will be considered for PITCH, regardless of the therapeutic area.
Projects will be selected for funding based on their potential for success through the program as well as resource capacity within the program at the time of evaluation. Strong projects may be put in a queue until a specific resource capacity becomes available.
Yes. Phenotypic assays will receive the best reviews if the pathway is well characterized, such that there is a discrete list of candidate targets, and there are tools to facilitate deconvolution of the candidate target among potential targets efficiently.
No data is needed, yet working knowledge and experience with the systems presented reduces risk and makes for a more competitive application.
No. We anticipate some projects may enter the program with an active lead, but most will not.
We expect that a just limited analysis will be performed for the initial PowerPoint, but that some careful thought about application with a justification for that proposal will be presented.
PITCH is currently closed to future applications.
You will be notified if your PowerPoint application was selected for a presentation to the External Advisory Board. Following the oral presentation, you will be notified within two months’ time.
Yes, you will receive some summary comments from reviewers by email.
High scoring applications have the following characteristics: strong connection between the target and the disease; selectivity for disease or ability to target specific tissues; competitive advantage; known target or feasible target-finding process; reasonable mechanisms of action; high throughput assay concept; screening cascade presented to characterize best hits efficiently; disease prevalence; and suitable animal model accepted in the field.
You can re-apply in a future application and review cycle with the same project that you initially submitted.
Yes. You must engage the technology transfer group at Yale prior to any publications to ensure that the intellectual property remains intact for engagement of future investment. Publications must acknowledge the financial support of PITCH and, when appropriate, include the PITCH scientists who have contributed to the findings in the submitted manuscript.
A PITCH project cannot be funded by any other group or funding agency if that would result in granting IP rights to a third party (e.g., sponsored research from a pharmaceutical company or private foundation). However, you are able to submit the project for alternative funding while it is being actively executed by PITCH to agencies that assign IP rights to your home university (e.g., federal funding such as NIH, DoD). Revenue resulting from royalties, milestones, licensing, or other capital-generating events which participated in PITCH will be distributed according to the UConn and Yale policies regarding faculty inventor revenue sharing and to the allocations established in the royalty sharing agreement between Yale, UConn and Connecticut Innovations. The basis of the agreement is to incentivize all groups as stakeholders in the success of the program.
Accepted Applications
You will have up to two weeks to prepare your 12 minute presentation of your slide deck.
The project will start immediately or as soon as possible based on capacity. There may be minor delays based on reagent needs or short-term capacity constraints.
PITCH fully covers the cost of user fees and assay/chemistry reagents. In keeping with the program’s resource efficient approach, the assay format used may be different than what is initially described in the application.
The awardee is expected to provide expertise, guidance, methods and reagents proprietary to their laboratory. These are valuable resources necessary for project success! There is no additional cost to participate.
Projected run-times for a project are approximately 18 months if starting at the assay development stage but are shorter for projects entering at a later phase. Each project will have specific needs. Project funds are not unlimited and the intention is to use resources for successful outcomes for the entire project pool.
Funds will not be directly distributed to project awardees. Instead, research projects from Yale labs will be selected for inclusion in the PITCH program where they will progress towards potential presentation to the venture community as investment opportunities.
No. Work will be done at YCMD as it best meets project needs. Some work may be contracted to contract research organizations for medicinal chemistry, analysis or preclinical testing. Members of your laboratory are not expected to be directly involved in hands-on assay activities for the PITCH project.
Please see the workflow diagram here.
No. Projects will be evaluated in a second phase following the initial screening. Priority for medicinal chemistry will be made based on the quality of chemical matter. In addition, projects will be subjected to evaluations following assay development, screening and virtual hit expansion, and can exit the program based on assay performance.
The External Advisory Board will be making go/no go decisions prior to assay development and prior to medicinal chemistry. Should issues arise during the course of a project, it will be presented to the External Advisory Board for counsel.
Please learn about our External Advisory Board members here.
The awardee is the project champion. Awardee’s insight, knowledge and reagents are unique and extremely valuable to the success and novelty of the project. If the project is successful, the awardee will be the founder of the new biopharma/biotech.
An explanation of Faculty expectations can be found here.
We welcome active participation by awardees in the design of the screening and secondary assays. There are no requirements for them to participate in performing the screens.
Quarterly updates can be provided with face-to-face meetings, or by phone and email containing summary data. More frequent conversations about a project are welcomed.
The application slide deck used through PITCH will form the basis of the presentation to VCs. The PITCH leadership will work with the faculty entrepreneurs to help craft an attractive pitch presentation to potential investors. In addition, resources are available at host institutions and throughout the state to prepare for presentations to venture firms.
The intellectual property developed during PITCH is owned by your university. However during the course of the project, PITCH scientists may become inventors. In those cases, they will participate in any future revenue sharing according to the policies in place at the university from which the project originated.
Yes. You must engage the technology transfer group at your host institution prior to any publications to ensure that the intellectual property remains intact for engagement of future investment. Publications must acknowledge the financial support of PITCH and, when appropriate, include the PITCH scientists who have contributed to the findings in the submitted manuscript.
A PITCH project cannot be funded by any other group or funding agency if that would result in granting IP rights to a third party (e.g., sponsored research from a pharmaceutical company or private foundation). However, you are able to submit the project for alternative funding while it is being actively executed by PITCH to agencies that assign IP rights to your home university (e.g., federal funding such as NIH, DoD). Revenue resulting from royalties, milestones, licensing, or other capital-generating events which participated in PITCH will be distributed according Yale policies regarding faculty inventor revenue sharing and to the allocations established in the royalty sharing agreement between Yale and Connecticut Innovations. The basis of the agreement is to incentivize all groups as stakeholders in the success of the program.