[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8546-8547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02609]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and 
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI): Cooperative Research 
and Development Agreement (``CRADA'') and Licensing Opportunity; Non-
inhibitory Chaperones of Glucocerebrosidase for Treatment of Gaucher 
and Other Diseases

SUMMARY: The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences 
(NCATS) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the 
National Institutes of Health (NIH), are seeking Cooperative Research 
and Development Agreement (CRADA) partners to collaborate in the final 
stages of lead optimization, evaluation and preclinical development of 
a novel selective series of non-inhibitory chaperones of 
glucocerebrosidase (GCase) for the treatment of Gaucher and other 
diseases. Interested potential CRADA collaborators will receive 
detailed information about the project after signing a confidential 
disclosure agreement (CDA) with NCATS and NHGRI.

DATES: Interested candidate partners must submit a statement of 
interest and capability to the NCATS point of contact before March 8, 
2013 for consideration. Guidelines for the preparation of a full CRADA 
proposal will be communicated shortly thereafter to all respondents 
with whom initial confidential discussions have established sufficient 
mutual interest. CRADA applications submitted after the due date may be 
considered if a suitable CRADA collaborator has not been identified by 
NIH among the initial pool of respondents. Licensing of background 
technology related to this CRADA opportunity is also available to 
potential collaborators.

ADDRESSES: Questions about licensing opportunities of related 
background technology should be addressed to Tara L. Kirby, Ph.D., 
Senior Licensing and Patenting Manager, Office of Technology Transfer, 
NIH, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, Maryland 20852-
3804, Telephone: (301) 435-4426; Email: [email protected]. Respondents 
interested in licensing will be required to submit an ``Application for 
License to Public Health Service Inventions.'' An executed CDA will be 
required to receive copies of the patent applications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further details of this CRADA 
opportunity and statement of interest please contact Lili Portilla, 
M.P.A., Acting Director, Office of Policy, Communications and Strategic 
Alliances, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH, 
6701 Democracy Blvd., Suite 900, Bethesda, MD 20892-4874; Telephone 
(301) 402-0304; E-Mail: [email protected] or Dr. Krishnan Balakrishnan, 
Technology Transfer Manager, NCATS, Telephone: (301) 217-2336; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIH seeks to ensure that technologies 
developed by NIH are expeditiously commercialized and brought to 
practical use. The purpose of a CRADA is to find a partner to 
facilitate the development and commercialization of a technology; in 
this case, small molecule compounds that are early in the development 
cycle. Respondents interested in submitting a CRADA proposal should be 
aware that it may be necessary for them to secure a patent license to 
the patent rights listed below in order to be able to commercialize 
products arising from a CRADA. CRADA partners are afforded an option to 
negotiate an exclusive license from the NIH for inventions arising from 
the performance of the CRADA research plan.
    Gaucher disease, the most common form of lipidosis, is a rare 
genetic lysosomal storage disease characterized by a loss of function 
in the GCase enzyme, which is responsible for hydrolyzing 
glucocerebroside (GC) in the lysosome. Phagocytic cells, such as 
macrophages, microglia (resident macrophages in the brain), and 
osteoclasts (resident macrophages in the bone) will clean up dead cells 
by a mechanism named efferocytosis. The macrophages use GCase to break 
down GC, a major constituent of cell walls. With deficient functional 
GCase, GC accumulates within the lysosome of resident macrophages, 
giving rise to lipid-engorged Gaucher cells, a hallmark of the disease. 
Many mutant forms of GCase are enzymatically active, but they never 
reach the lysosome after synthesis in the ribosome. Instead, they 
accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) due to failure in their 
folding process, which eventually triggers ubiquitination and 
degradation via the proteasome pathway. One therapeutic strategy under 
consideration is to develop small molecule chaperones that can promote 
and accelerate the folding process and increase the transport of mutant 
protein to the lysosome, where it can then process GC. The main 
challenge in the development of molecular chaperones for Gaucher 
disease is that chaperones are inhibitors of the enzyme. This 
complicates their clinical development, because it is difficult to 
generate an appropriate in vivo exposure at which a compound exhibits 
chaperone activity, but does not inhibit the enzyme's function. Using 
high throughput screening, several small-molecule series were 
identified that do not inhibit the enzyme's action, and through 
medicinal chemistry optimization, these series were further optimized. 
These lead molecules were found to increase the specific activity of 
the enzyme, promote the translocation of GCase to the lysosome in 
Gaucher fibroblasts and macrophages, reduce the accumulated substrate, 
and restore efferocytosis of these cells. Further analogs are currently 
being synthesized to address some of the metabolic liabilities of 
specific series. Because these compounds can modulate the activity and 
chaperone the translocation of wild-type GCase as well as different 
GCase mutants, it is also possible that they might find application in 
additional settings outside of Gaucher disease. For example, clinical 
studies have recently shown a clear association between GCase mutants 
and Parkinson disease. Moreover, the compounds could potentially be 
used to enhance the efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy.
    Under the CRADA, further in vitro and in vivo absorption, 
distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME) and activity studies 
will be conducted on current and new small molecule leads, using human 
macrophages differentiated from isolated Gaucher monocytes or Gaucher 
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and in point mutation Gaucher 
animal models. Based on this and other data, the program will then 
develop a target product profile. The chemical series will be further 
improved to address specific aspects of this target product profile 
and, if necessary, to optimize its physical properties and formulation. 
The CRADA scope will also include studies beyond candidate selection 
including all aspects of pre-clinical studies such as toxicity studies 
and chemistry GMP scale up of select compound(s) and manufacture of

[[Page 8547]]

controls leading to a successful investigational new drug (IND) 
application. Collaborators should have experience in the pre-clinical 
development of small molecules and a track record of successful 
submission of IND applications to the FDA for rare and neglected 
diseases.
    The full CRADA proposal should include a capability statement with 
a detailed description of (1) collaborator's chemistry expertise in the 
areas of modulation of small molecule physical properties and 
formulation of small molecules, and its ability to manufacture 
sufficient quantities of chemical compounds according to FDA guidelines 
and under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP); (2) expertise with Gaucher 
disease and/or expertise with disorders such as Parkinson disease which 
might benefit from increases in GCase activity; (3) expertise in 
regulatory affairs, particularly at the IND filing and early clinical 
trials stages; (4) collaborator's ability to support, directly or 
through contract mechanisms, and ability, upon the successful 
completion of relevant milestones, to support the ongoing 
pharmacokinetics and biological studies, long term toxicity studies, 
process chemistry and other pre-clinical development studies needed to 
obtain regulatory approval of a given molecule so as to ensure a high 
probability of eventual successful commercialization; and, (5) 
collaborator's ability to provide adequate funding to support some of 
the project's pre-clinical studies.

Publications:

    1. ``A High Throughput Glucocerebrosidase Assay Using the 
Natural Substrate Glucosylceramide,'' Motobar O, Goldin E, Leister 
W, Liu K, Southall N, Huang W, Marugan JJ, Sidransky E, Zheng W, 
Anal Bioanal Chem, 402(2), 731-9, 2012.
    2. ``A Novel High Throughput Screening Assay for Small Molecule 
Therapy for Gaucher Disease Using N370S Mutant Glucocerebrosidase 
from Patient Tissue,'' Goldin E, Zheng W, Motabar O, Southall N, 
Marugan JJ, Austin CP and Sidransky E, PLoS One, 7(1), e29861, 2012
    3. Discovery, SAR and Biological evaluation of Non Inhibitory 
Small Molecule Modulators of Glucocerebrosidase with Chaperone 
Activity,'' Patnaik, S, Zheng W, Choi J, Motabar O, Southall N, 
Westbroek W, Lea W, Velayati A, Goldin E, Sidransky E, Leister W, 
Marugan J, J. Med. Chem, 55(12), 5734-48, 2012.
    4. ``A non-inhibitory chaperone reverses impaired function and 
lipid storage in a patient derived-Gaucher macrophage model,'' 
Aflaki E, Stubblefield B, Maniwang E, Lopez G, Goldin E, Westbroek 
W, Marugan JJ, Southall N, Patnaik S, Zheng W, Tayebi N, and 
Sidransky E, Blood, Submitted.
    5. ``An induced pluripotent stem cell model that recapitulates 
the pathologic hallmarks of Gaucher disease,'' Panicker LM, Miller 
D, Park TS, Patel B, Azevedo JL, Awad O, Masood AM, Veenstra TM, 
Goldin E, Polumuri SK, Vogel SN, Sidransky E, Zambidis ET, Feldman 
RA, Proc Nat Acad Sci USA, 109(44):18054-9, 2012

Background Technology Available for Licensing:

    1. ``Salicylic acid derivatives useful as glucocerebrosidase 
activators,'' Juan Jose Marugan et al., U.S. Provisional Patent 
Application No. 61/616,758, HHS Ref. No. E-144-2012/0-US-01.
    2. ``Salicylic acid derivatives and additional compounds useful 
as glucocerebrosidase activators,'' Juan Jose Marugan et al., U.S. 
Provisional Patent Application No. 61/616,773, HHS Ref. No. E-144-
2012/1-US-01.

    Dated: January 30, 2013.
Christopher P. Austin,
Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, 
National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2013-02609 Filed 2-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P