[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 165 (Tuesday, August 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 51279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21694]



[[Page 51279]]

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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.

Protection Against Vertical Transmission of Pathogenic Infections

Drs. Gene Shearer and Maria T. Rugeles (NCI).
DHHS Reference No. E-225-2003/0-US-01 filed 22 May 2003.
Licensing Contact: Sally Hu; 301/435-5606; [email protected].

    This invention describes the treatment of pregnant women who are 
infected with HIV-1 (or other infectious agents that would be harmful 
to their fetuses and/or newborns) to reduce the risk of vertical 
transmission of the infectious agents. The treatment could potentially 
be accomplished by treating the pregnant women with recombinant 
ribonucleases (RNases), or by immunizing the women with allogeneic 
leukocytes that could stimulate the production of endogenous RNases. 
Since alloantigen stimulation of blood leukocytes from healthy 
individuals results in production of ribonucleases (RNases) that 
inhibit HIV-1 and HTLV-1 replication, alloimmunization of at risk or 
infected pregnant females would be protective for their newborns from 
infection of different pathogens, including HIV-1 and HTLV-1. Thus, 
this invention may provide a cost effective and a therapeutically 
effective means of preventing vertical transmission of pathogens, 
including HIV-1 and HTLV-1.

Inhibition of HIV-1 Replication by the Ribonuclease, Recombinant 
Angiogenin

Drs. Gene Shearer, Joost J. Oppenheim, Maria T. Rugeles, and Susanna M. 
Rybak (NCI).
DHHS Reference No. E-327-2002/0-US-01 filed 22 May 2003.
Licensing Contact: Sally Hu; 301/435-5606; [email protected].
    This invention describes the inhibition of human immunodeficiency 
virus-1 (HIV-1) replication by recombinant angiogenin, a ribonuclease 
(RNase). Ribonucleases have been shown to inhibit HIV-1 replication in 
chronically-infected cell lines. This invention has demonstrated that 
angiogenin is a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 replication. For example, 
angiogenin inhibits HIV-1 replication in primary activated T lymphocyte 
cultures as well as chronically infected cell lines. Since inhibition 
of HIV-1 replication in primary activated T lymphocytes would decrease 
the risk of HIV spreading to other T cells, angiogenin has several 
advantages over other known ribonucleases that are used to inhibit HIV 
replication. Furthermore, this invention raised the possibility that 
angiogenin could be used in lower doses for inhibiting HIV replication 
and would be less toxic as compared to other ribonucleases. Thus, 
angiogenin may be an RNase of choice for treating patients with AIDS 
and this invention would overcome some of the problems involved in 
current ribonucleolytic HIV treatments.

    Dated: August 18, 2003.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 03-21694 Filed 8-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P