Congress passed a five‑year reauthorization of the SBIR and STTR programs, restoring a critical federal seed‑funding mechanism for small biotech companies. The move ends a funding lapse and reopens grant opportunities across agencies, including NIH, which historically channels a substantial portion of SBIR/STTR dollars to early‑stage life science ventures. Industry groups such as BIO welcomed the reauthorization as essential to U.S. biotech innovation and commercialization pipelines. The programs have supported thousands of companies and are credited with enabling translational advances that later attracted private investment and partnerships. Agencies will announce application timelines via Grants.gov; companies and academic teams are preparing to reengage with program offices to secure early R&D and de‑risk technologies for follow‑on financing.