[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32969-32971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14095]


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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

[[Page 32970]]

be required to receive copies of the patent applications.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Technology descriptions follow.

Boron Amino Acid Mimetics for PET Imaging of Cancer

    Description of Technology: Available for licensing and commercial 
development as imaging agents for positron emission tomography of 
cancer are boramino acid compounds. The inventors showed that mimetics 
created by substituting the carboxylate group (-COO-) of an 
amino acid with trifluoroborate (-BF3-) are 
metabolically stable and allow for the use of fluorene-18 (\18\F) as 
the radiolabel. Using boroamino acid for \18\F-labeling allows for 
integrating the \18\F radiolabel into the core molecular backbone 
rather than the side-chains thus increasing the agent's target 
specificity. There is a direct relationship between amino acid uptake 
and cancer cell replication, where the uptake is extensively 
upregulated in most cancer cells. This uptake increases as cancer 
progresses, leading to greater uptake in high-grade tumors and 
metastases. Amino acids act as signaling molecules for proliferation 
and may also reprogram metabolic networks in the buildup of biomass. 
This invention provides for an unmet need for traceable amino acid 
mimics, including those based on naturally-occurring amino acids, which 
may be non-invasively detected by imaging technology, including for 
clinical diagnosis and anti-cancer drug evaluation.
    Potential Commercial Applications:
     Cancer imaging
     Anti-cancer drug development
    Competitive Advantages:
     Fluorene-18 labeling
     Metabolic stability
    Development Stage:
     Early-stage
     In vitro data available
     In vivo data available (animal)
    Inventors: Xiaoyuan Chen and Zhibo Liu (NIBIB)
    Publications:
    1. Liu Z, et al. Preclinical evaluation of a high-affinity 18F-
trifluoroborate octreotate derivative for somatostatin receptor 
imaging. J Nucl Med. 2014 Sep;55(9):1499-505. [PMID 24970911]
    2. Liu Z, et al. (18)F-trifluoroborate derivatives of [des-
arg(10)]kallidin for imaging bradykinin b1 receptor expression with 
positron emission tomography. Mol Pharm. 2015 Mar 2;12(3):974-82. [PMID 
25629412]
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-135-2015/0--US 
Provisional Patent Application 62/155,085 filed April 30, 2015
    Licensing Contact: Michael Shmilovich, Esq., CLP; 301-435-5019 or 
301-402-5579; [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 Boramino Acid 
Mimetics for Use in Cancer Imaging. For collaboration opportunities, 
please contact Cecilia Pazman at [email protected].

Resolution Enhancement for Light Sheet Microscopy Systems

    Description of Technology: The invention pertains to a technique 
for enhancing the resolution of images in light sheet microscopy by 
adding additional enhanced depth-of-focus optical arrangements and high 
numerical aperture objective lenses. The technique employs an 
arrangement of three objective lenses and a processor for combining 
captured images. The image composition utilizes the greater resolving 
power of the third high numerical aperture objective lens by imaging 
the light sheet and enhanced depth-of-focus arrangement resulting in 
improved overall resolution of the light sheet system. The depth of 
field arrangement could be a simple oscillation of the third objective, 
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:
     High speed imaging
     Fast single cell and cellular dynamics imaging
     Superresolution and single molecule imaging
     3D single particle tracking
     3D superresolution imaging in thick samples
    Competitive Advantages: Resolution enhancement in light microscopy
    Development Stage: In vitro data available
    Inventors: Hari Shroff (NIBIB), Yicong Wu (NIBIB), Sara Abrahamsson
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-232-2014/0--US 
Application No. 62/054,484 filed September 24, 2014
    Related Technology: HHS Reference No. E-078-2011/0
    Licensing Contact: Michael Shmilovich, Esq., CLP; 301-435-5019 or 
301-402-5579; [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 Resolution 
Enhancement Technique for Light Sheet Microscopy Systems. For 
collaboration opportunities, please contact Cecilia Pazman at 301-594-
4273 or [email protected].

Device for Selective Partitioning of Frozen Cellular Products

    Description of Technology: Cryopreservation using liquid nitrogen 
frozen polyvinyl bags allows for storing cellular materials for 
extended periods while maintaining their activity and viability. Such 
bags are commonly used in the clinic to store blood products including 
blood cells, plasma, hematopoietic stem cells, umbilical cord blood for 
future uses including transplantation. These materials, typically 
obtained in limited quantities, may be of great therapeutic value, as 
is the case of stem cells or cord blood derived cells which can be used 
to potentially treat a number of diseases. Currently, even if only a 
small portion of the cryopreserved sample is needed the whole bag must 
be thawed, wasting much of the sample or rendering the remaining sample 
susceptible to contamination since it cannot be effectively refrozen or 
sterilized. The present device meets an unmet need for retrieving a 
portion of a frozen sample stored in polyvinyl cryopreserved bags, 
resealing the remainder of the sample and preserving the cryopreserved 
state and integrity of the rest of the cellular product without 
compromising viability and sterility.
    Potential Commercial Applications:
     Cryopreservation
     Cellular Products
     Hematopoietic stem cells
     Umbilical cord blood
     iPSCs
     Transplantation
     Chronic spinal cord injury
     Neurological disorders
     Cancer immunotherapy
     Cell banking
     Cell replacement therapy
    Competitive Advantages:
     Partitioning cryopreserved cell products
     Maintenance of sterility of partitioned product
     Maintenance of viability of partitioned product
     Resealing of cryopreservation bag
     Multiple use of patient derived cellular products
    Development Stage: Prototype
    Inventors: Richard Childs, Sumithira Vasu, Herb Cullis, PJ 
Broussard, Kevin

[[Page 32971]]

Clark, Eric Harting (all rights assigned to the US Government)
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-173-2009/0 -
     US Provisional App. 61/175,131
     Int'l App. PCT/US2010/033575
     Canadian App. 2,760,363
     EP App. 10719496.1
     IL App. 216085
     US Patent 8,790,597
     US Patent App. 14/305,578
    Licensing Contact: Michael Shmilovich, Esq., CLP; 301-435-5019 or 
301-402-5579; [email protected]
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Heart, Lung, and 
Blood Institute is seeking statements of capability or interest from 
parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, 
evaluate, or commercialize Device for Partitioning Cryopreserved 
Cellular Products. For collaboration opportunities, please contact 
Cecilia Pazman, Ph.D. at 301-594-4273 or [email protected].

    Dated: June 4, 2015.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Acting Director, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of 
Health.
[FR Doc. 2015-14095 Filed 6-9-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4140-01-P