[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11349-11350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-5934]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Government-Owned Inventions; Availability for Licensing

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

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Method and Apparatus to Improve an MRI Image

Peter Kellman and Elliot McVeigh (NHLBI)
DHHS Reference No. E-361-01/0 filed Oct 19, 2001
Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    The invention is a method for improving image quality in MR imaging 
methods using the SENSE (SENSitivity Encoding) method, which is known 
to have degraded image quality due to numerical ill-conditioning (so 
called 
g-factor loss). The invention improves the numerical conditioning by 
means of an adaptive regularization (matrix conditioning), thereby 
improving image quality for a given scan time. This is accomplished by 
adaptively adjusting the regularization parameter for each pixel 
position to achieve a target ghost artifact suppression. In this 
manner, a higher degree of matrix conditioning is used in regions which 
have less artifact, thus improving the SNR in these regions.

Use of CpG Oligodeoxynucleotides to Encourage Angiogenesis

Dennis M. Klinman (FDA), Mei Zheng (EM), Barry T. Rouse (EM)

[[Page 11350]]

DHHS Reference No. E-328-01/0 filed Dec 20, 2001
Licensing Contact: Peter Soukas; 301/496-7056 ext. 268; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    This invention relates to the field of angiogenesis, more 
specifically to the use of CpG oligonucleotides to promote 
angiogenesis. Angiogenesis, the process of developing a hemovascular 
network, is essential for the growth of solid tumors and is a component 
of normal wound healing and growth processes. It has also been 
implicated in the pathophysiology of atherogenesis, arthritis, corneal 
neovascularization, and diabetic retinopathy. Angiogenesis factors play 
an important role in wound healing and likely play a role in the 
development of malignancies; hence, it would clearly be advantageous to 
identify new angiogenic agents.
    CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) express a wide range of biological 
activities. They are potent vaccine adjuvants, anti-allergens, and 
trigger a protective innate immune response. Several recent reports 
indicate that CpG ODN also stimulate cells of the central nervous 
system. Although CpG ODN have many potential uses, their potential to 
induce angiogenesis has not been previously recognized. The inventors 
have shown that bioactive CpG motifs induce dose-dependent 
neovascularization in the corneas of mice. The invention claims methods 
for stimulating angiogenesis using CpG ODNs, methods for inducing the 
production of VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) using CpG ODN, 
and a model system for screening potential anti-angiogenic agents.

Vaccine for Protection Against Shigella sonnei Disease

Dennis J. Kopecko, De-Qi Xu, John O. Cisar (FDA)
DHHS Reference No. E-210-01/0 filed Jan 16, 2002
Licensing Contact: Peter Soukas; 301/496-7056 ext. 268; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    Shigellosis is a global human health problem. Transmission usually 
occurs by contaminated food and water or through person-to-person 
contact. The bacterium is highly infectious by the oral route, and 
ingestion of as few as 10 organisms can cause an infection in 
volunteers. An estimated 200 million people worldwide suffer from 
shigellosis, with more than 650,000 associated deaths annually. A 
recent CDC estimate indicates the occurrence of over 440,000 annual 
shigellosis cases in the United States alone, approximately eighty 
percent (80%) of which are caused by Shigella sonnei. Shigella sonnei 
is more active in developed countries. Shigella infections are 
typically treated with a course of antibiotics. However, due to the 
emergence of multidrug resistant Shigella strains, a safe and effective 
vaccine is highly desirable. No vaccines against Shigella infection 
currently exist. Immunity to Shigellae is mediated largely by immune 
responses directed against the serotype specific 
O-polysaccharide. Claimed in the invention are compositions and methods 
for inducing an immunoprotective response against S. sonnei. 
Specifically, an attenuated bacteria capable of expressing an S. sonnei 
antigen comprised of the S. sonnei form I O-polysaccharide expressed 
from the S. sonnei rfb/rfc gene cluster is claimed. The inventors have 
shown that the claimed vaccine compositions showed one hundred percent 
(100 %) protection against parenteral challenge with virulent S. sonnei 
in mice.

Method for Determining Sensitivity to a Bacteriophage

Carl R. Merril (NIMH), Sankar Adhya (NCI), Dean M. Scholl (NIMH)
DHHS Reference No. E-318-00/0 filed Jan 22, 2002
Licensing Contact: Peter Soukas; 301/496-7056, ext. 268; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    Traditionally, chemical antibiotics have been used to treat a 
variety of bacterial infections. However, bacterial resistance to 
current antibiotics is an increasingly serious problem in human and 
veterinary health as well as agriculture. Many experts believe that 
strains of disease-causing bacteria resistant to all common antibiotics 
will arise in the next ten to twenty years. Bacteriophages offer a 
promising therapeutic alternative to antibiotics for these antibiotic 
resistant bacteria. There are also situations in which bacteriophage 
may be more suitable than antibiotics to treat infections caused by 
against antibiotic-sensitive bacteria. Bacteriophages are highly host-
specific, thus determining whether a phage would be therapeutically 
useful against a particular bacterium or strain of bacteria is very 
important but can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.
    The current invention claims a method for selecting a therapeutic 
bacteriophage that would be effective against a particular disease-
causing bacteria, comprising a number of bacteriophages containing 
reporter nucleic acids capable of being expressed when the 
bacteriophage infects a bacterial cell. These bacteriophages are 
separately contacted with a sample contaminated by a bacterium. 
Expression of the reporter is then detected, indicating which 
bacteriophage has infected a bacterial cell and is thus a potential 
therapeutic phage against the particular bacteria. Also claimed in the 
application are kits allowing for the rapid identification of 
potentially therapeutic bacteriophages.

    Dated: March 5, 2002.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 02-5934 Filed 3-12-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P