[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51837-51838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7331]


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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 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.

Molecules for Studying Cellular Immune Responses to Vaccines and 
Therapeutics

    Description of Technology: HLA molecules are indispensable and 
invaluable tools for efficient vaccine research and development. 
Infectious diseases are the second leading cause of death among adults 
and the most prominent cause of death in infants and children 
worldwide. Thus, rapid availability of prophylactic vaccines for 
cancers and infectious diseases such as HIV, HPV, influenza and 
diarrheal and respiratory diseases is a world-wide health concern.
    Available for licensing is a large variety of cell lines, each 
expressing a particular HLA molecule and the plasmids encoding them, 
including soluble HLAs. This technology has broad application for 
development of vaccines and immunotherapeutics. HLA molecules can be 
used to characterize HLA-peptide binding and elucidate the process of 
both antigen and tumor cell peptide-processing and presentation. In 
addition to wild-type HLA molecules, available for licensing are HLAs 
containing point-mutations in the peptide binding regions. The mutated 
HLAs can be used to evaluate key peptide interactions. Additionally, 
soluble HLA molecules are useful for elucidating the structural details 
of HLAs and HLA-peptide complexes through crystallographic studies, 
which can be used to aid in vaccine design. Thus, the present 
technology has the potential to lend insight into immune recognition 
and identification of immunogenic epitopes for the systematic design of 
peptide and protein subunit vaccines for cancers and infectious 
diseases. Furthermore, this technology has application in the 
development of therapies for autoimmune and related immunological 
diseases, including those associated with organ transplantation.
    Applications: (1) Identification/Quantification of T cell responses 
to specific antigens including vaccine antigens; (2) Identification of 
T cell

[[Page 51838]]

responses in patients with autoimmune diseases; (3) Development of 
vaccines candidates for cancer and infectious diseases; (4) Organ 
transplant diagnostics and immunotherapeutics.
    Inventors: William Biddison, Richard Turner, Susan Gagnon (NINDS).
    Relevant Publications:
    1. TK Baxter, SJ Gagnon, RL Davis-Harrison, JC Beck, AK Binz, RV 
Turner, WE Biddison. Strategic mutations in the class I major 
histocompatibility complex HLA-A2 independently affect both peptide 
binding and T cell receptor recognition. J. Biol. Chem. 2004 Jul 9; 
279(28):29175-29184.
    2. BM Baker, RV Turner, SJ Gagnon, DC Wiley, WE Biddison. 
Identification of a crucial energetic footprint on the alpha1 helix of 
human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 that provides 
functional interactions for recognition by tax peptide/HLA-A2-specific 
T cell receptors. J. Exp. Med. 2001 Mar 5; 193(5):551-562.
    Patent Status: HHS Reference Nos. E-251-2006/0 and E-251-2006/1--
Biological Materials.
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing through Biological 
Materials License Agreements.
    Licensing Contact: Susan Ano, Ph.D.; 301/435-5515; 
[email protected].

Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies to Botulinum Neurotoxin A

    Description of Technology: Available for licensing from the NIH are 
two chimpanzee-derived monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against botulinum 
neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A). These mAbs can be developed for prevention, 
therapy, or diagnosis of BoNT/A. Use of this technology represents a 
significant improvement over the existing therapy of supportive care 
and treatment with equine antitoxin polyclonal antibodies.
    Potential Applications of Technology: (1) Emergency prophylaxis 
against BoNT/A outbreak (natural or biodefense-related); (2) 
Therapeutic against BoNT/A; (3) Rapid Diagnosis of BoNT/A; (4) 
Therapeutic against overdosage of BoNT/A as used in clinical 
treatments.
    Advantages of Existing Therapies: (1) No anticipated side effects 
compared to currently utilized equine antitoxin polyclonal antibodies; 
(2) Monoclonal instead of polyclonal.
    Inventors: Robert H. Purcell et al. (NIAID).
    Patent Status: HHS Reference No. E-180-2006/0--Research Tool.
    Licensing Status: Available for non-exclusive licensing.
    Licensing Contact: Susan Ano, Ph.D.; 301/435-5515; 
[email protected].

    Dated: August 25, 2006.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 06-7331 Filed 8-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P