[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5879-5880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2632]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Nitroxides as Protectors 
Against Oxidative Stress and the Prophylactic and Therapeutic Treatment 
Radiation Damage to Normal Tissue

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 CFR 
404.7(a)(1)(i), that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of 
an exclusive license worldwide to practice the invention embodied in: 
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 07/494,532, filed March 16, 1990, 
entitled ``Nitroxides as Protectors Against Oxidative Stress'' and U.S. 
Patent Application Serial No. 60/047,724 filed May 27, 1997 entitled,

[[Page 5880]]

``The use of Nitroxides in the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment 
of cancer due to genetic defects'' and corresponding foreign patent 
applications to Varian Biosynergy, Inc., having a place of business in 
Palo Alto, California. The patent rights in these inventions have been 
assigned to the United States of America.
    The contemplated exclusive license may be limited to use of topical 
or local tissue application of compounds disclosed and claimed in the 
invention for the protection of normal tissue against radiation damage 
caused by radiation therapy of diseased tissue.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license which 
are received by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before May 
8, 2000, will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the patent application, inquiries, 
comments and other materials relating to the contemplated license 
should be directed to: Norbert J. Pontzer, J.D., Ph.D., Technology 
Licensing Specialist, Office of Technology Transfer, National 
Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, 
MD 20852-3804; Telephone: (301) 496-7736, ext. 284; Facsimile: (301) 
402-0220; E-mail: [email protected]. A signed Confidential Disclosure 
Agreement will be required to receive copies of the patent application.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective radioprotective drugs could 
significantly improve the therapeutic ratio of radiation therapy by 
protecting normal tissues and allowing greater doses of radiation to be 
delivered to the tumor. One approach to avoid protecting the tumor is 
local application of the radioprotective drugs to adjacent health 
tissue. The patent applications claim a new class of metal independent 
nitroxide compounds that appear capable of protecting tissue against 
radiation damage if clinically useful, non-toxic formulations that 
deliver sufficient local tissue concentrations can be developed.
    The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will 
comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. 
The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within 90 days 
from the date of this published Notice, NIH receives written evidence 
and argument that establishes that the grant of the license would not 
be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.
    Properly filed competing applications for a license filed in 
response to this notice will be treated as objections to the 
contemplating license. Comments and objections submitted in response to 
this notice will not be made available for public inspection, and, to 
the extent permitted by law, will not be released under the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

    Dated: January 31, 2000.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer.
[FR Doc. 00-2632 Filed 2-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M