[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64808-64809]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25874]



[[Page 64808]]

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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, 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. 209 and 37 CFR Part 404 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Technology descriptions follow.

Resolution Enhancement Technique for Light Sheet Microscopy Systems

    Description of Technology: The invention pertains to a technique 
for enhancing the resolution of a light sheet microscopy technique by 
adding an additional enhanced depth-of-focus optical arrangement and 
high numerical aperture objective lens. The technique employs an 
arrangement of three objective lenses and a processor for combining 
captured images from the objectives. The resulting image composite 
retains the greater resolving power of the third high numerical 
aperture objective lens by imaging the light sheet with the third 
objective lens and enhanced depth-of-focus arrangement so that the 
overall resolution of the light sheet system is improved. The depth of 
field arrangement could be a simple oscillation of the third objective, 
or a ``layer cake'' or cubic phase mask component. Any loss in lateral 
resolution that results from the depth of field arrangement may be 
compensated for by deconvolution. In some embodiments, other optics, 
such as an axicon or annular aperture, can provide extended depth of 
field.
    Potential Commercial Applications: Resolution enhancement in light 
microscopy
    Competitive Advantages: Image composition using processing system
    Development Stage:
     Early-stage
     Prototype
    Inventors: Hari Shroff (NIBIB), Yicong Wu (NIBIB), Sara Abrahamsson 
(The Rockefeller University)
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-232-2014/0--U.S. 
Provisional Patent Application 62/054,484 filed September 24, 2014
    Related Technology: HHS Reference No. E-078-2011/0--
     PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/27524 filed March 02, 2012
     U.S. Patent Application No. 14/003,380 filed September 5, 
2013, which published as US 2014-0126046-A1 on May 08, 2014
    Licensing Contact: Michael Shmilovich, Esq.; 301-435-5019; 
[email protected]
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Institute of 
Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering is seeking statements of 
capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative 
research to further develop, evaluate or commercialize light sheet 
microscopy image resolution enhancement. For collaboration 
opportunities, please contact Cecilia Pazman at 301-594-4273 or 
[email protected].

Resolution Enhancement for Line-Scanning Excitation Microscopy

    Description of Technology: The invention describes a method for 
improving the spatial resolution of optical microscopes that use line-
scanning excitation, such as line-scanning confocal microscopes, line-
scanning STED microscopes, or line-scanning light-sheet microscopes. 
Common elements of the invention include: (a) An apparatus for exciting 
and scanning a line-like excitation focus through the sample; (b) an 
optical arrangement on the detection side of the microscope for 
manipulating the spacing and/or width of the resulting fluorescence 
emissions; (c) integration and optional post-processing of the 
manipulated fluorescence emissions after capture by an area detector 
such as a camera. The resolution increase may be performed with no or 
marginal decrease in temporal resolution relative to the conventional 
line-scanning microscopes upon which the technique is based.
    Potential Commercial Applications: Fluorescence microscopy
    Competitive Advantages:
     Improved resolution
     Enhanced acquisition speed relative to other forms of 
super-resolution microscopy
    Development Stage: Prototype
    Inventors: Hari Shroff, Andrew York, John Giannini, Abhishek Kumar 
(all of NIBIB)
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-225-2014--U.S. 
Provisional Patent Application 62/054,481 filed September 24, 2014
    Licensing Contact: Michael Shmilovich, Esq.; 301-435-5019; 
[email protected]
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Institute of 
Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering is seeking statements of 
capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative 
research to further develop, evaluate or commercialize fluorescent 
microscopy. For collaboration opportunities, please contact Cecilia 
Pazman at 301-594-4273 or [email protected].

Chemotherapeutic Anti-Cancer Agents

    Description of Technology: Available for licensing are new 
compounds derived from 4-benzyl-amino-benzyl alcohol. These compounds 
possess potent activity in multiple in vitro models of cancer cell 
growth inhibition and in vivo xenograft models of renal tumor 
regression. These compounds could potentially be developed into 
promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of various cancers.
    Potential Commercial Applications: Chemotherapy of cancer
    Competitive Advantages:
     Extreme potency for tumor regression in vivo.
     Compounds with similar profiles have been approved by the 
FDA as chemotherapeutic agents.
    --Preliminary toxicology data available.
    Development Stage:
     In vitro data available
     In vivo data available (animal)
    Inventors: Joel Morris and Donn Wishka (NCI)
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-027-2014/0--U.S. 
Application No. 61/933,606 filed 20 Jan 2014
    Licensing Contact: Patrick McCue, Ph.D.; 301-435-5560; 
[email protected]

Novel Codon-Optimized Gene Therapeutic for Methylmalonic Acidemia

    Description of Technology: Methylmalonic Acidemia (MMA) is a 
metabolic disorder characterized by increased acidity in the blood and 
tissues due to toxic accumulation of

[[Page 64809]]

protein and fat by-products resulting in seizures, strokes, and chronic 
kidney failure. A significant portion of MMA cases stem from a 
deficiency in a key mitochondrial enzyme, methylmalonyl-CoA mutase 
(MUT), required to break down amino acids and lipids. Currently, there 
are no treatments for MMA and the disease is managed primarily with 
dietary restriction of amino acid precursors and liver-kidney 
transplantation in severe cases.
    The present invention describes a synthetic codon-optimized MUT 
gene (co-MUT) that improves expression of human methylmalonyl-CoA 
mutase. A series of novel gene therapy vectors containing co-MUT 
rescued MMA mice from lethality and lowered levels of methylmalonic 
acid in the blood. Results of pre-clinical efficacy studies demonstrate 
a promising therapy for MMA and other renal-associated disorders.
    Potential Commercial Applications:
     The co-MUT transgene could be used to treat MMA patients.
     In addition, it could be used to produce MUT in vitro for 
MMA enzyme replacement therapy.
    Competitive Advantages: co-MUT transgene could be used through non-
viral and viral gene delivery.
    Development Stage:
     In vitro data available
     In vivo data available (animal)
    Inventors: Charles P. Venditti and Randy J. Chandler (NHGRI)
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-243-2012/0--
     U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/792,081 filed 15 March 
2013
     PCT Application No. PCT/US2014/028045 filed 14 March 2014
    Licensing Contact: Vince Contreras, Ph.D.; 301-435-4711; 
[email protected]
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The Organic Acid Research 
Section at the National Human Genome Research Institute is seeking 
statements of capability or interest from parties interested in 
collaborative research to further develop, evaluate or commercialize 
codon-optimized MUT constructs. For collaboration opportunities, please 
contact Claire T. Driscoll at [email protected].

    Dated: October 28, 2014.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Acting Director, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of 
Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-25874 Filed 10-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P