[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58861-58862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20517]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

Multiple Donor Tissue-Derived Large IgM VH-Based Fab Human 
Antibody Library

    Description of Technology: Available for licensing as a biological 
material for either internal use or commercial distribution is a human 
Fab immunoglobulin/antibody fragment phage display library. 
The library contains 10 \10\ Fabs derived from the 
peripheral blood of ten (10) healthy human donors. The high quality of 
the library was demonstrated in the successful selection of high 
affinity antibodies specific for Hendra and Nipah viruses; however, the 
library is useful for selecting a variety of antigen specific 
immunoglobulin/antibody Fab fragments especially for cancer 
or viruses.
    Applications: Antibody discovery--Diagnostics, Therapeutics, 
Research Reagents.
    Advantages and Benefits: High affinity multi-purpose antibodies.
    Inventors: Dimiter S. Dimitrov (NCI) et al.
    Publications:
    1. Zhang et al. Selection of a novel gp41-specific HIV-1 
neutralizing human antibody by competitive antigen panning. J Immunol 
Methods. 2006 Dec 20; 317(1-2):21-30. Epub 2006 Oct 16.
    2. Zhu et al. Potent neutralization of Hendra and Nipah viruses by 
human monoclonal antibodies. J Virol. 2006 Jan;80(2):891-899.
    3. Zhang et al. Human monoclonal antibodies to the S glycoprotein 
and related proteins as potential therapeutics for SARS. Curr Opin Mol 
Ther. 2005 Apr;7(2):151-156. Review.
    Patent Status: HHS Reference No. E-188-2007/0--Research Tool. 
Patent protection is not being sought for this technology.
    Licensing Status: Available for non-exclusive licensing as 
biological material.
    Licensing Contact: Michael Shmilovich, Esq.; 301/435-5019; 
[email protected].
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The NCI-Frederick is seeking 
statements of capability or interest from parties interested in 
collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize 
therapeutic, diagnostic

[[Page 58862]]

or research reagent antibodies. Please contact Thomas Stackhouse at 
[email protected] or 301-846-5465 for more information.

Optical Slice Motion Tracker

    Description of Technology: Available for licensing and commercial 
development is an apparatus that adjusts the focal plane of a 
microscope in order to track plane motion of a sample. The apparatus 
includes a motor that can change the focal plane by moving the 
objective of the microscope and a computer that reads image data from 
the microscope photomultiplier tube (PMT). The apparatus uses time 
between images to perform a navigator function comprising quickly 
scanning many nearby focal planes with a minimum field of view and 
utilizing pattern matching to calculate an offset distance to adjust 
the focal plane. The apparatus permits imaging of moving structures, 
such as living tissue, over time by compensating for motion in the 
direction of the focal plane. The use of navigator movement to track an 
optically selected slice can be implemented in any of various research 
or medical devices.
    Applications: Microscopy; Cell biology.
    Development Status: Early-stage; Prototype.
    Inventors: James L. Schroeder (NHLBI), Robert S. Balaban (NHLBI), 
Thomas J. Pohida (CIT), John W. Kakareka (CIT), Randall Pursley (CIT).
    Patent Status: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/904,683 filed 02 
Mar 2007 (HHS Reference No. E-114-2007/0-US-01). The issued and pending 
patent rights are solely owned by the United States Government.
    Licensing Status: Licensing on a non-exclusive basis and exclusive 
to qualified applicants whose application for licensure complies with 
37 CFR 404.
    Licensing Contact: Michael A. Shmilovich, Esq.; 301/435-5019; 
[email protected].
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The NHLBI is seeking statements 
of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative 
research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize the optical 
slice motion tracker. Please contact Lili Portilla at 301-594-4273 or 
via e-mail at [email protected] for more information.

A Fundus Photo-Stimulation System and Method

    Description of Technology: Available for licensing and commercial 
development is an optical system which permits targeted photo-
stimulation of the retina by positioning the stimulus location under 
visual guidance through a fundus camera. The system is designed to 
elicit, under direct infra-red visual control of stimulus size and 
position in the retina, electroretinograms (ERGs) in response to photo-
stimulation from selected regions of the retina, as well as to present 
small light stimuli to a selected area to explore visual sensitivity 
properties. For example, the detected ERGs can be the basis for 
diagnosing or characterizing patient retina with early stage retinal 
disease versus healthy retina from the opposite eye. The system can be 
mounted on commercially available fundus cameras that have infra-red 
capabilities (or would accept infra-red bandpass filtering of their 
retinal illumination output) and will accept a near IR CCD camera 
connected to a TV mounted on the photographic-camera port.
    The optical system can comprise a targeting light path originating 
from a deep red laser and a stimulus light path originating from a 
Xenon strobe lamp. Both light paths are brought into collinear 
alignment by a beam splitter. The light paths are transmitted to the 
eye through an adjustable turning mirror and a focusing lens. A beam 
splitter in front of the fundus camera objective lens merges the 
optical path of the fundus camera with that of the targeting optical 
path and the stimulus light path. The merged beams are brought to a 
focus at or close to the lens of the eye. A movable aperture is 
interposed on the collinear beams and imaged on the retina such that 
its lateral position and size can be adjusted by the operator to select 
the retinal area to be photo-stimulated. This arrangement ensures that 
the stimulating light flashes illuminate the same field as was selected 
using the deep red targeting laser. This system permits projection of 
repeatable visible-light flashes with variable size and location onto 
the retina.
    Applications: Diagnosis of retinal disease; Electroretinograms.
    Development Status: Early-stage; Prototype available.
    Inventors: Paul Smith (ORS), Edward Wellner (ORS), Francisco de 
Monasterio (NEI).
    Patent Status: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/935,107 filed 26 
Jul 2007 (HHS Reference No. E-279-2006/0-US-01). The pending patent 
rights are solely owned by the United States Government.
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing and commercialization. 
Non-exclusive rights are available. Exclusive rights may be available 
to qualified applicants and are subject to the provisions set forth in 
37 CFR 404.7.
    Licensing Contact: Michael A. Shmilovich, Esq.; 301/435-5019; 
[email protected].
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The Laboratory of 
Bioengineering and Physical Science, NIBIB is seeking statements of 
capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative 
research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize the Fundus 
Photo-Stimulation System and Method. Please contact Dr. Paul Smith at 
[email protected] for more information.

    Dated: October 10, 2007.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
 [FR Doc. E7-20517 Filed 10-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P