[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42750-42751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16124]


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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 an agency 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

[[Page 42751]]

Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be required to receive copies of 
the patent applications.

Autoantibody Detection for Cancer Diagnostics

Yoon Cho-Chung (NCI), US Provisional Application No. 60/551,776 filed 
11 Mar 2004 (DHHS Reference No. E-081-2004/0-US-01)

    Licensing Contact: Brenda Hefti; 301/435-4632; [email protected].
    The current patent application addresses the need to discover novel 
biomarkers for the diagnosis, screening and monitoring of tumor 
progression or regression. The invention relates to compositions and 
methods for detecting autoantibodies against an extracellular form of 
protein kinase A (ECPKA) in a biological sample for the diagnosis of 
cancer. ECPKA is secreted from cancer cells which then elicits the 
formation of serum autoantibodies which can serve as a cancer 
diagnostic and prognostic marker. The invention describes a highly 
sensitive enzyme immunoassay that measures the presence of anti-ECPKA 
autoantibody in biological samples of cancer patients. The present 
invention demonstrates that the sera presence of autoantibody directed 
against ECPKA is highly correlative of cancer. The immunoassay 
developed for anti-ECPKA antibody is highly sensitive and specific. Use 
of the immunoassay exhibits markedly high anti-ECPKA antibody titers in 
cancer patients but low or non-existent titers in normal individual 
controls. Furthermore, use of the invention to detect anti-ECPKA 
antibodies is much more sensitive and specific than results from other 
current assays that detect only antigen activity. The invention 
demonstrates that the approach of autoantibody analysis, rather than 
conventional antigen analysis for ECPKA and other cancer antigens, 
provides a valuable approach for cancer diagnosis. This ECPKA-
autoantibody-based immunoassay method provides an important diagnostic 
procedure applicable for the detection of cancers of various cell 
types.

Vaccine Peptide Derived from XAGE-1 to Prevent Tumor Growth

Jay A. Berzofsky, Ira H. Pastan, and Masaki Terabe (NCI), U.S. 
Provisional Application No. 60/529,025 filed 12 Dec 2003 (DHHS 
Reference No. E-090-2003/0-US-01)
    Licensing Contact: Brenda Hefti; 301/435-4632; [email protected].
    This invention describes a novel peptide derived from the protein 
XAGE-1 which is expressed specifically in cancer cells of prostate and 
breast cancer, as well as Ewing's sarcoma. This peptide is able to bind 
to human HLA-A2 molecules and to induce specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte 
response in vivo.
    This peptide has therapeutic potential as an immunogen, and might 
induce cancer specific immune responses in cancer patients, which may 
cause regression of the cancer or prevent cancer metastasis.

    Dated: July 6, 2004.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-16124 Filed 7-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P