[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6927-6928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-3303]


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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, HHS.

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.

Scavenger Receptor BI Targeting for the Treatment of Infection, Sepsis 
and Inflammation

Alexander Bocharov et al. (CC)
DHHS Reference No. E-008-03/0 filed 05 Nov 2002
Licensing Contact: Uri Reichman; 301/435-4616; [email protected]

    Proinflammatory bacterial cell wall components including 
lipopolysaccharide (LPS), lipoteichoic acid (LTA) and peptidoglycan 
(PGN) are major factors determining the development, progression and 
outcome for a number of infectious diseases. Chaperonin 60 (spn60), 
another bacterial component, and its human ortholog heat shock protein 
60 (hsp60), also play an important role in inflammatory diseases such 
as arthritis and lupus erythematosus. This invention relates to the 
discovery that peptides with an amphipathic helical motif block 
cellular uptake of LPS (lipopolysaccharide) and proinflammatory 
responses induced by LPS, LTA (lipoteichoic acid), bacterial cpn60 
(Chaperonin 60) and human hsp60 (heat shock protein 60) in vitro. These 
observations suggest that agents with an amphipathic motif targeting 
SR-BI (scavenger receptor class B type I) could potentially be used to 
treat sepsis, bacterial and viral infections and inflammatory diseases 
where LPS, LTA, viral envelope proteins, and/or heat shock proteins 
contribute to pathogenesis.

4G10, a Monoclonal Antibody Against the Chemokine Receptor CXCR4, 
Raised Against a Synthetic Peptide of 38 Residues in Length Derived 
From the N-terminal Sequence of CXCR4

Edward A. Berger and Christopher C. Broder (NIAID)
DHHS Reference No. E-340-2002/0
Licensing Contact: Sally Hu; 301/435-5606; [email protected]

    This invention identifies a monoclonal antibody (4G10) against the 
chemokine receptor CXCR4 and is a mouse IgG1 antibody. CXCR4 has been 
identified as a co-receptor mediating entry of HIV-1 into T cells. 
Subsequently, CXCR4 has been implicated in normal physiological 
functions, including activation of B cells and B cell progenitors and 
guiding their migration into the bone marrow (via its ligand SDF-1). 
CXCR4 also functions in T cell progenitor migration and neural 
progenitor stem cell activation. Since

[[Page 6928]]

4G10 is a monoclonal antibody raised against a synthetic peptide 
derived from the N-terminus of CXCR4 that may prove useful in the 
context of the above CXCR4 functions, 4G10 is an excellent reagent for 
detection and quantitation of CXCR4 by Western blot, 
immunoprecipitation, ELISA, and flow cytometry. It can also be used to 
purify CXCR4 by affinity chromatography. With these known 
characteristics, it would also function in immuno-histochemical assays 
as well. Thus, this invention is a good research tool and is available 
for licensing through a Biological Materials License Agreement as no 
patent application has been filed.

Decreased Side Effects of DRYVAX[reg] Vaccination by Prior Immunization 
With Highly Attenuated Poxvirus in Immune-Compromised and Competent 
Hosts

Genoveffa Franchini (NCI)
DHHS Reference No. E-249-02/0 filed 07 Nov 2002
Licensing Contact: Uri Reichman; 301/435-4616; [email protected]

    The invention describes new data relating to a vaccine against 
smallpox. Smallpox was once worldwide in scope; before vaccination was 
practiced almost everyone eventually contracted the disease. Variole 
virus is the etiological agent of smallpox. Symptoms of smallpox begin 
12-14 days after exposure to the virus and are characterized by the 
appearance of multiple, eruptive pustules that cover the entire body. 
The eradication of smallpox was brought about by the use of the 
vaccinia virus vaccine, known as DRYVAX''. DRYVAX[reg] is a replication 
competent vaccinia virus distinct from smallpox. Although the vaccine 
is highly efficacious, it is also associated with significant serious 
adverse effects. Specifically, DRYVAX[reg] can cause serious side 
effects in immunocompromised patients, such as AIDS patients. The last 
natural case of smallpox occurred in 1977. In 1980 the World Health 
Organization (WHO) declared the global eradication of smallpox and 
recommended that all countries cease vaccination. The recent events of 
September 11, 2001, however, brought the issue of smallpox vaccination 
to the forefront of the national homeland security efforts.
    The current invention describes the use of DRYVAX[reg] in 
conjunction with (modified vaccinia Ankara strain) MVA or NYVAC, an 
attenuated poxvirus vector obtained from Connaught Technology 
Corporation (CTC), an Aventis company. Specifically, the inventors 
demonstrate, with animal studies, that prior immunization with NYVAC or 
MVA appear to help contain the adverse effects of the DRYVAX[reg] 
vaccine. The adverse effects were tempered in immune-competent as well 
as in immune-compromised hosts. The overall concept of the invention is 
to immunize first with an attenuated poxvirus or an attenuated vaccinia 
virus and then with DRYVAX[reg] to overcome the side effects of the 
latter vaccination.

gp64 Pseudotyped Vectors and Uses Thereof

Mukesh Kumar, Joshua Zimmerberg (NICHD)
DHHS Reference No. E-191-01/0 filed 12 Nov 2002
Licensing Contact: Uri Reichman; 301/435-4616; e-mail: 
[email protected]

    This invention relates to a general gene therapy technology which 
uses an HIV-1 based vector containing a baculovirus gp64 protein. HIV-1 
based gene therapy vectors hold great promise due to their ability to 
deliver genes to non-dividing cells including hematopoietic stem cells. 
However native HIV only binds to cells with a CD4 receptor, while gene 
therapy vectors would need to be delivered to a variety of cells. 
Various different envelope proteins have been tried to replace the 
native envelope protein of HIV with a new envelope protein whose origin 
is another enveloped virus (pseudotyping) that has more general binding 
capabilities. However, to date, no one has been successful for 
practical purposes, due to either low titers or cytotoxic effects of 
the expressed proteins. The inventors have developed a family of 
nontoxic vectors using baculovirus gp64 protein (which binds to a 
variety of cells) and HIV proteins that efficiently deliver genes of 
interest to target cells. Furthermore, since gp64 expression in 
producer cells is not accompanied by cytotoxic side effects, this 
protein is an ideal candidate for the development of cell lines for 
constitutive expression of gp64 for the process of construction of the 
hybrid HIV (packaging cell lines).

Novel Acylthiol Compositions and Methods of Making and Using Them

John K. Inman (NIAID), Atul Goel (NCI), Ettore Appella (NCI), Jim A. 
Turpin (NCI), and Marco Schito
DHHS Reference No. E-329-00/0 filed 03 Aug 2001
Licensing Contact: Sally Hu; 301/435-5606; [email protected]

    This invention provides a novel family of acylthiols and uses 
thereof. More specifically, this invention provides effective 
inhibitors of HIV that selectively target its highly conserved 
nucleocapsid protein (NCp7) by interacting with metal chelating 
structures of a zinc finger-containing protein. Because of the 
mutationally intolerant nature of NCp7, drug resistance is much less 
likely to occur with compounds attacking this target. In addition, 
these drugs should inactivate all types and strains of HIV and could 
also inactivate other retroviruses, since most retroviruses share one 
or two highly conserved zinc fingers that have the CCHC motif of the 
HIV NCp7. Finally, this invention could be very useful for the large-
scale practical synthesis of HIV inhibitors, because these compounds 
can be prepared by using inexpensive starting materials and facile 
reactions. Thus, it opens the possibility that an effective drug 
treatment for HIV could be made available to much larger populations 
than is now the case.
    This research has been described in Turpin et al., J. Med. Chem. 
42: 67-86, 1999; Basrur et al., J. Biol. Chem. 275: 14890-14897, 2000; 
Song et al., Biorganic and Medicinal Chemistry 10: 1263-1273, 2002; 
Goel et al., Biorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 12: 767-770, 
2002; Schito et al., AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, in press.

    Dated: February 4, 2003.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 03-3303 Filed 2-10-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P