[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 26413]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8888]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Use of Licensee's 
proprietary delivery formulation containing synthetic peptides of the 
CEA antigen (or modifications, derivatives, fragments, or immunogenic 
epitopes thereof) as claimed in the Licensed Patent Rights, alone or in 
combination with at least one other synthetic peptide for use in the 
prevention and/or treatment of adenocarcinomas in humans. For the 
avoidance of doubt, said delivery formulation specifically excludes all 
poxviruses, eukaryotic expression vectors, and recombinant yeast

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 Part 404.7(a)(1)(i), that the National Institutes of Health, 
Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of 
an exclusive patent license to practice the inventions embodied in U.S. 
Patent 6,756,038 and PCT Application Serial No. PCT/US98/19794 and 
foreign equivalents thereof, entitled ``Agonist and Antagonist Peptides 
of Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)'' (E-099-1996/0), to Immatics 
Biotechnologies, GmbH, which is located in Tuebingen, Germany. The 
patent rights in these inventions have been assigned to the United 
States of America.
    The prospective exclusive license territory may be worldwide and 
the field of use may be limited to the use of Licensee's proprietary 
delivery formulation containing synthetic peptides of the CEA antigen 
(or modifications, derivatives, fragments, or immunogenic epitopes 
thereof) as claimed in the Licensed Patent Rights, alone or in 
combination with at least one other synthetic peptide for use in the 
prevention and/or treatment of adenocarcinomas in humans. For the 
avoidance of doubt, said delivery formulation specifically excludes all 
poxviruses, eukaryotic expression vectors, and recombinant yeast.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license which 
are received by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before July 
9, 2007 will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the patent application, inquiries, 
comments, and other materials relating to the contemplated exclusive 
license should be directed to: Michelle A. Booden, PhD., Technology 
Licensing Specialist, Office of Technology Transfer, National 
Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, 
MD 20852-3804; Telephone: (301) 451-7337; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220; E-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The technology describes the composition and 
use of nucleic acid sequences that encode agonist and one antagonist 
peptide variants of the human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) peptide, 
including but not limited to CAP-1. CEA is an antigen, which is 
expressed on the surface of various types of cancer cells. It is 
capable of stimulating a specific cytolytic T cell response, as is CAP-
1, which is a highly immunogenic epitope of CEA. Therefore, CAP-1 
agonists which are capable of eliciting a CEA-specific cytolytic T cell 
response, such as those identified by the inventors, may represent 
potential immunogens for use as therapeutic agents or vaccines against 
various cancers, and possibly also for use against autoimmune diseases. 
In fact, at least one of the agonist peptides appears to be more 
immunogenic than the native CAP-1 peptide. CAP-1 antagonists which are 
capable of reducing or eliminating this T cell response, such as the 
antagonist peptide variant identified by the inventors, may represent 
potential agents for use against autoimmune responses to CEA or to 
agonist peptide variants thereof.
    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 Part 
404.7. The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless within 
sixty (60) days from the date of this published notice, the 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 Part 404.7.
    Applications for a license in the field of use filed in response to 
this notice will be treated as objections to the grant of the 
contemplated exclusive license. Comments and objections submitted 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: May 1, 2007.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. E7-8888 Filed 5-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P