[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 186 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51360-51361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25709]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Government-Owned Inventions; Availability for Licensing

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned by agencies of the U.S. 
Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance 
with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results 
of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent 
applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage 
for companies and may also be available for licensing.

ADDRESSES: Licensing information and copies of the U.S. patent 
applications listed below may be obtained by writing to the indicated 
licensing contact at the Office of Technology Transfer, National 
Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852-3804; telephone: 301/496-7057; fax: 301/402-0220. A 
signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be required to receive 
copies of the patent applications.

Water Soluble Drugs and Methods of Preparing Same

DK Ho et al. (SAIC/NCI)
Serial No. 60/093,284 filed 17 Jul 98
Licensing Contact: Girish Barua, 301/496-7056, ext. 263

    Many potential drugs of cancer chemotherapy intended for parenteral 
administration have been abandoned because the active ingredient is 
slightly soluble or water-insoluble. Various methods have been 
developed to allow these drugs to be dissolved in water; however, these 
methods can be complex and have negative impacts resulting from the use 
of cosolvents and complexing agents. The present invention addresses 
these problems by providing a method of producing water-soluble 
analogues of water-insoluble drugs through derivatization and 
conjugation with a polar moiety via a thiol ether bond with a

[[Page 51361]]

heterobifunctional linking molecule. In particular this invention 
provides a water-soluble analogue of the antitumor drug, geldanamycin. 
The analogue is expected to exhibit superior solubility under 
physiological conditions due to the unique configuration and thus 
permits the use of water-insoluble parent compounds.

Human and Rat gb2 GABAGB Receptors

J Clark, T Bonner (NIMH)
Serial No. 60/087,274 filed 29 May 98
Licensing Contact: Charles Maynard, 301/496-7735, ext. 243

    Disruption of GABAergic neurotransmission has been implicated in a 
number of neurological and psychiatric disorders. GABAergic 
neurotransmission is mediated by two very different types of GABA 
receptors, the ligand-gated ion channels or GABAA receptors, 
and the seven transmembrane domain G protein-coupled GABAB 
receptors. GABAB receptors have been shown to modulate 
adenylyl cyclase and phosphoinositide hydrolysis, inhibit voltage-
sensitive calcium currents, and stimulate potassium currents and 
phospholipase A2. New GABAB receptor cDNAs, 
designated hgb2 and rgb2 GABAB, have been isolated from both 
rat and human. The rat and human gb2 receptors share 95% 
amino acid identity with each other and 27% identity with the gb1.

Therapeutic Blockage of ICER Synthesis To Prevent ICER-Mediated 
Inhibition of Immune Cell Activity

PA Cohen, J Bodor, D Weng, GK Koski, BJ Czerniecki (NCI)
Serial No. 60/076,293 filed 27 Feb 98 Licensing
Contact: Girish Barua, 301/496-7056 ext. 263

    This invention relates to the use of antisense to the ICER 
(Inducible cAMP Early Repressor) to protect cells of the immune system 
against ICER suppression by tumors and infectious pathogens.
    Normal functioning of the host's immune cells encompasses the 
recognition and destruction of cancer cells and infectious pathogens. 
Such immunologic activities are critically dependent upon local 
antigen-presenting cell (APC) function and T cell restimulation. It is 
apparent, however, that tumors and infectious pathogens can escape 
recognition and rejection through local inhibition of APC and 
lymphocyte function, through diverse mechanisms including prostaglandin 
secretion. It has recently been discovered that sustained inhibition of 
APC and lymphocyte function is inducible with cAMP activating stimuli 
in tandem with other coordinate stimuli, resulting in sustained 
intracellular expression of the inhibitory nuclear regulatory molecule 
ICER (Inducible cAMP Early Repressor).
    The present invention potentially prevents inhibitory effects of 
tumors and infectious pathogens on APC and lymphocyte function by 
utilizing ICER antisense to block ICER synthesis in cells of the immune 
system. The goal of such treatment is to prevent ICER synthesis in 
lymphocytes and APC responding to inhibitory stimuli secreted or 
induced by tumors and infectious pathogens, thereby rendering the 
immune system less vulnerable to ICER-mediated immunosuppression.

Signal Transduction Inhibitors of Allergic Reactions

B Vonakis, H Metzger, H Chen (NIAMS)
Serial No. 09/020,116 filed 06 Feb 98
Licensing Contact: Kai Chen, 301/496-7735 ext. 247

    Allergic reactions affect nearly 40 million persons in the United 
States. Allergic reactions are due to a sequential interaction 
beginning with the extracellular aggregation of the high affinity 
receptor for IgE (FcRI) followed by intracellular tyrosine 
phosphorylation which initiates a further cascade of events eventually 
leading to histamine and cytokine release. The reaction is initiated by 
Lyn kinase which is pre-associated with the FcRI. It was shown 
that the introduction of a unique portion of the N-terminal region of 
Lyn A kinase into cells inhibits the receptor tyrosine phosphorylation 
in a dose and time-dependent manner. Without receptor phosphorylation, 
allergic reactions can not occur. The NIH is looking for a company to 
license and independently develop the technology or to work in 
collaboration with the NIH scientists via a Cooperative Research and 
Development Agreement to further research and develop the allergy 
treatment. It is believed that this technology may ultimately lead to 
an anti-allergy drug or allergy therapy.

Method and System for Identifying Acid-Fast Structures in Slide-
Mounted Biological Specimens

AE Lash, LA Liotta (NCI)
Serial No. 60/066,234 filed 20 Nov 97
Licensing Contact: John Fahner-Vihtelic, 301/496-7735 ext. 270

    The present application describes a system and method for screening 
subjects who are suspected of having a mycobacterial infection. After 
obtaining a specimen of interest, a digitized photomicrographic image 
of a magnified field of the specimen is color filtered to remove pixels 
in the red to magenta range. The pixels are grouped and analyzed to 
determine if they form any structures having an elongated shape 
associated with mycobacteria. Upon identification of target organisms, 
an alarm sounds and the section of interest is displayed by the system. 
Problems associated with locating mycobacteria on a slide and 
determining their morphological appearance, once found, are virtually 
eliminated with this invention.

Resonant Structure for Spatial and Spectral-Spatial Imaging of Free 
Radical Spin Probes Using Radiofrequency Time Domain Electron 
Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometry

N Devasahayam et al. (NCI)
Serial No. 60/047,786 filed 27 May 97; PCT/US98/10467 filed 21 May 98
Licensing Contact: John Fahner-Vihtelic, 301/496-7735 ext. 270

    The present application represents a significant improvement in 
resonators for use in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) imaging 
systems. This apparatus is designed to detect time domain EPR responses 
from spin probes after pulsed excitation using radiofrequency 
irradiation in the range of 60-400MHz. The invention is configured into 
an array of numerous surface coils of appropriate diameters connected 
in a parallel fashion with suitable spacing between individual surface 
coils to form a volume type resonator. This technology provides 
necessary capabilities and improvements in EPR systems and overcomes 
obstacles associated with implementation of EPR spectroscopy diagnostic 
imaging.

    Dated: September 18, 1998.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Officer of 
Technology Transfer.
[FR Doc. 98-25709 Filed 9-24-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M