[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 59 (Friday, March 27, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16389-16390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06974]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Small Molecule 
Therapeutics Against Hepatitis C Virus Infection

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is notice, in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 
part 404, that the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health 
and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of a start-up exclusive 
commercial patent license agreement to practice the inventions embodied 
in U.S. provisional patent application no. 61/909,414 (NIH Ref. No. E-
011-2014/0-US-01) filed November 27, 2013; International PCT 
application no. PCT/US2014/066680 (NIH Ref. No. E-011-2014/0-PCT-02) 
filed November 20, 2014; Taiwanese patent application no. 103141004 
(NIH Ref. No. E-011-2014/0-TW-03) filed November 26, 2014; and U.S. 
provisional patent application no. 62/011,462 (NIH Ref. No. E-161-2014/
0-US-01) filed June 12, 2014; all entitled, ``Heterocyclic Compounds 
and Methods of Use Thereof;'' and all continuing applications and 
foreign counterparts to Virotas Biopharmaceuticals, LLC, a company 
having a place of business in California. The patent rights in these 
inventions have (a) been assigned to the United States of America, as 
represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services 
who has delegated authority for the licensing of inventions to the 
National Institutes of Health or (b) been exclusively licensed to the 
National Institutes of Health.
    The prospective exclusive license territory may be ``worldwide'', 
and the field of use may be limited to the following: ``Prevention and 
treatment of Hepatitis C Virus infection.''

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license which 
are received by the NIH Office of Technology Transfer on or before 
April 13, 2015 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: Kevin W. Chang, Ph.D., Senior Licensing 
and Patenting Manager, Office of Technology Transfer, National 
Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, 
MD 20852-3804; Telephone: (301) 435-5018; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220; 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The subject technologies are small molecule 
compounds for the treatment of HCV infection identified using a novel 
cell-based high throughput assay. Some of these compounds are 
derivatives of chlorcyclizine that show potent antiviral properties 
against HCV. Chlorcyclizine is already on the market for the treatment 
of allergic reactions, have been used extensively in humans, and have 
excellent safety profiles with known pharmaceutical properties. The 
other compounds are also heterocyclic compounds that show anti-HCV 
activity. The subject technologies can potentially be used in 
combination with each other and/or with other HCV therapeutics.
    The prospective start-up exclusive commercial patent license will 
be royalty bearing and will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 
U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR part 404. The prospective start-up exclusive 
commercial patent license may be granted unless within fifteen (15) 
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.
    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

[[Page 16390]]

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: March 23, 2015.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Acting Director, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of 
Health.
[FR Doc. 2015-06974 Filed 3-26-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4140-01-P