[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 147 (Monday, August 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46170-46171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17468]


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

Monoclonal Antibody (MP804) That Specifically Binds Stem Cells and Its 
Use

    Neal D. Epstein (NHLBI); U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/
565,101 filed 23 Apr 2004 (DHHS Reference No. E-014-2004/0-US-01); 
Licensing Contact: Fatima Sayyid; (301) 435-4521; [email protected].
    Adult stem cells hold great promise for human disorders that are 
currently incurable including spinal-cord injury and brain diseases. 
Although it has been shown that adult stem cells can produce many 
different tissue types in the body, from blood to muscle to nerve 
leading hope to their use for repairing or replacing diseased or 
damaged organs, their use is limited due to lack of reagents for 
isolation of adult stem cells from tissues. This invention is drawn to 
antibodies that can detect a subpopulation of primitive stem cells in 
adult murine skeletal muscle. This subset of cells can be used to 
repair a variety of neurological disorders, to produce primary and 
immortalized cell lines for physiologic and pharmaceutical research, 
and for genomic and proteomic studies focused on the process of neural 
cell differentiation.

Modulating P38 Kinase Activity

    Dr. Jonathan Ashwell (NCI); U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/
541,993 filed 05 Feb 2004 (DHHS Reference No. E-010-2004/0-US-01); 
Licensing Contact: Marlene Shinn-Astor; (301) 435-4426; 
[email protected].
    Protein kinases are involved in various cellular responses to 
extracellular signals. The protein kinase termed p38 is also known as 
cytokine suppressive anti-inflammatory drug binding protein (CSBP) and 
RK. It is believed that p38 has a role in mediating cellular response 
to inflammatory stimuli, such as leukocyte accumulation, macrophage/
monocyte activation, tissue resorption, fever, acute phase responses 
and neutrophilia. In addition, p38 has been implicated in cancer, 
thrombin-induced platelet aggregation, immunodeficiency disorders, 
autoimmune diseases, cell death, allergies, osteoporosis and 
neurodegenerative disorders.
    The NIH announces a new technology that includes compositions and 
methods for controlling the activity of p38 specifically in T cells 
through an alternate activation pathway. By controlling p38 activity 
through

[[Page 46171]]

interference with this alternate pathway, the T cells themselves can be 
controlled which in turn can be a treatment for conditions or diseases 
characterized by T cell activation such as autoimmune diseases, 
transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease, systemic lupus 
erythematosus, and viral infections such as HIV infections.

Human Neuronal Cells for Therapeutic Uses

    Jong-Hoon Kim, Raja Kittappa, and Ronald D. McKay (NINDS); U.S. 
Provisional Application No. 60/495,346 filed 14 Aug 2003 (DHHS 
Reference No. E-056-2003/0-US-01); Licensing Contact: Norbert Pontzer; 
(301) 435-5502; [email protected].
    Embryonic stem (ES) cells from various animal models demonstrate 
pluripotency, the ability to generate the multiple cell types found in 
the adult body. ES cells can also proliferate indefinitely in an 
undifferentiated state in vitro. These properties may allow cells 
derived from ES cells to replace diseased or injured cells and tissue. 
While the local milieu may direct some naive ES cells into the 
appropriate fate for that tissue, the formation of teratomas and other 
unwanted cell types remains an unsolved problem. Thus, the ability to 
direct the differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells into specific 
fates may be a necessary condition for their use in transplantation 
therapy for diseases such as Parkinson's.
    Using mouse ES cells, this laboratory previously produced a highly 
enriched population of midbrain neuronal cells that, when transplanted 
into rat models of Parkinson's disease, improved motor function and 
demonstrated in vivo electrophysiological properties consistent with 
functioning dopamine neurons. Using a similar culturing strategy, but 
with conditions specifically modified for human ES cells, these 
inventors have now produced a highly enriched population of human 
neuronal cells that exhibit electrical activity and synaptic vesicle 
release. Another simplified method differentiates ES cells grown as a 
monolayer into neurons, without going through an embryoid body stage. 
This intellectual property provides methods for producing human 
neuronal cells in general and dopaminergic cells specifically, the 
cells themselves, and methods of treating diseases caused by neuronal 
degeneration.

    Dated: July 21, 2004.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-17468 Filed 7-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P