The U.S. Department of Justice has settled with Protein Engines, LLC, and its founder Joshua Salafsky, over allegations related to grant misconduct. The biotech firm agreed to pay $155,000 after claims surfaced that Salafsky conducted research funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant outside of the United States, in violation of the grant's terms. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller stated, "Despite being repeatedly informed that all research under the grant needed to be performed in the U.S., Dr. Salafsky spent little more than a month in the U.S. while he was accepting NSF grant funding for his research." This information comes from a press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington.
Protein Engines was initially awarded a grant of $256,000 in November 2021, meant to support pharmaceutical research. The NSF requires that all grant-funded work be conducted domestically, a condition designed to bolster U.S. business and economic growth. However, evidence surfaced showing that Dr. Salafsky lived in the U.K. for the majority of the grant period, returning to the U.S. for just 38 days. These actions prompted the NSF to suspend grant funding on September 8, 2023, after it determined the research failed to meet the required domestic parameters, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington.
The Small Business Innovation Research/Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program is a significant source of federal funding for technological advancements in the U.S. Its goal is to strengthen the nation's competitive edge and contribute to economic prosperity. The NSF's Acting Inspector General, Megan E. Wallace, emphasized the importance of adherence to SBIR guidelines, saying, "When companies fail to follow the domestic requirements of the SBIR program, it is not only a misuse of taxpayer dollars but also takes away funding from deserving U.S. businesses," the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington stated.
The settlement, which splits equally into restitution and penalties, also includes $25,000 in grant funds that were never disbursed to Protein Engines LLC. The company has stated that the settlement agreement is not an admission of liability, choosing instead to avoid the expense and uncertainty of lengthy litigation.
