[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 13 (Monday, January 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2707-2708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-253]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Devices for 
Countercurrent Chromatography

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 
CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i), that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of 
an exclusive worldwide license to practice the invention embodied in: 
HHS Ref. No. E-274-1998 ``Chromatographic Separation Apparatus and 
Method,'' U.S. Patent No. 6,379,973; HHS Ref. No. E-044-1993 
``Variable-Position Cross-Axis Synchronous Coil Plant Centrifuge for 
Countercurrent Chromatography;'' U.S. Patent 5,380,429; HHS Ref. No. E-
148-2001 ``Method and Apparatus for Countercurrent Chromatography;'' 
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/509,697 filed April 5, 2002; to CC 
Biotech LLC, a company incorporated under the laws of the State of 
Maryland having its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. The United 
States of America is the assignee of the rights of the above 
inventions. The contemplated exclusive license may be granted in a 
field of use limited to instrumentation for countercurrent 
chromatographic purification of proteins and peptides.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license received 
by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer

[[Page 2708]]

on or before March 23, 2007 will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the patent application, inquiries, 
comments and other materials relating to the contemplated license 
should be directed to: Michael A. Shmilovich, Esq., Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive 
Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852-3804; Telephone: (301) 435-
5019; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220; E-mail: [email protected]. A 
signed confidentiality nondisclosure agreement will be required to 
receive copies of any patent applications that have not been published 
by the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the World 
Intellectual Property Organization.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The patents and patent applications intended 
for licensure disclose or cover the following:

E-274-1998, ``Chromatographic Separation Apparatus and Method,'' U.S. 
Patent No. 6,379,973

    This invention pertains to an apparatus and method for separating 
bio-molecules using a salt (e.g., ammonium sulfate) gradient applied in 
a spiral flow channel divided by a dialysis membrane. The channels are 
compartmentalized into upper and lower rotary discs spinning anti-
clockwise to each other. Sample is introduced in a buffered solution 
into the lower channel flows in one direction while the salt flows in 
the other. The concentration of salt permeates the membrane and 
precipitates the large molecules on the other side. For example, 
proteins or polymers are precipitates sequentially in the channel and 
centrifugal forces the precipitate to the outer rim as it moves along 
the liquid stream.

E-044-1993, ``Variable-Position Cross-Axis Synchronous Coil Planet 
Centrifuge for Countercurrent Chromatography,'' U.S. Patent No. 
6,379,973

    This device is a cross-axis synchronous flow-through coil planet 
centrifuge which provides changeability in the position of the coils 
relative to the axis of rotation of the centrifuge. The advantage of 
this feature is to allow adjustment of the centrifugal force operating 
on the coils to accommodate different types of separations. The coils 
are arranged in columns which are mounted to column holders that in 
turn can be engaged to the rotary frame of the centrifuge in position 
in which the column holders intersect and do not intersect the rotary 
frame axis. This arrangement allows for larger coils which can hold 
between 200 ml and 800 ml of sample.

E-148-2001, ``Method and Apparatus for Countercurrent Chromatography,'' 
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/509,697 (WIPO publication 03/087807)

    This device and method is an improvement of the countercurrent 
chromatography devices described above. This patent pending device is a 
new spiral design capable of holding heavier solvent systems suitable 
for peptides and proteins (e.g., for natural products).
    The prospective exclusive license will be royalty bearing and will 
comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. 
The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless, within sixty 
(60) days from the date of this published notice, NIH receives written 
evidence and argument that establishes that the grant of the license 
would not be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 
CFR 404.7.
    Properly filed competing applications for a license filed in 
response to this notice will be treated as objections to the 
contemplated license. Comments and objections submitted in response to 
this notice will not be made available for public inspection, and, to 
the extent permitted by law, will not be released under the Freedom of 
Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

    Dated: January 12, 2007.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 07-253 Filed 1-19-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M