[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78792-78793]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26995]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Notice of Availability for Licensing--NIST's Patented 
Microfluidic Apparatus and Method To Control Liposome Formation

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an 
agency of the United States Department of Commerce, owns two patents 
related to controlled liposome formation using microfluidic channels: 
U.S. Patent

[[Page 78793]]

9,198,645, titled ``Controlled Vesicle Self-Assembly in Continuous Two 
Phase Flow Microfluidic Channels'' (NIST Docket 04-003); and U.S. 
Patent 8,715,591, title ``Microfluidic Apparatus to Control Liposome 
Formation'' (NIST Docket 09-017). Further details about these patents 
are provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, below.

ADDRESSES: For further information about these patented inventions or 
other licensing and partnership opportunities, please contact Honeyeh 
Zube, CRADA and License Officer, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology's Technology Partnerships Office, by mail to 100 Bureau 
Drive, Mail Stop 2200, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, by electronic mail 
to [email protected], or by telephone at (301) 975-2209.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIST's Patent 9,198,645, titled ``Controlled 
Vesicle Self-Assembly in Continuous Two Phase Flow Microfluidic 
Channels'' (NIST Docket 04-003) claims novel methods for the formation 
of liposomes that encapsulate reagents in a continuous two-phase flow 
microfluidic network with precision control of size, for example, from 
100 nm to 300 nm, by manipulation of liquid flow rates are described. 
By creating a solvent-aqueous interfacial region in a microfluidic 
format that is homogenous and controllable on the length scale of a 
liposome, fine control of liposome size and polydispersity can be 
achieved.
    NIST's Patent 8,715,591, title ``Microfluidic Apparatus to Control 
Liposome Formation,'' (NIST Docket 09-017) is available for license and 
claims the apparatus and method of using a microfluidic device that 
controls the amount of delivery compound incorporated in a liposome on 
a nanometer size scale using laminar flow and miscible fluids, thereby 
increasing loading efficiency. The patent was filed on Apr. 19, 2010 
and was issued on May 6, 2014. The invention was first published in 
Jahn, et al., Microfluidic Directed Formation of Liposomes of 
Controlled Size, American Chemical Society Langmuir, 23 (11) pp 6289-
6293. 2007.
    The liposomes formed by the self-assembly process are characterized 
using asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation combined with quasi-
elastic light scattering and multiangle laser-light scattering. The 
vesicle size and size distribution are tunable over a mean diameter 
from 50 to 150 nm by adjusting the ratio of the alcohol-to-aqueous 
volumetric flow rate. Liposome formation depends more strongly on the 
focused alcohol stream width and its diffusive mixing with the aqueous 
stream than on the sheer forces at the solvent-buffer interface. The 
inventions have application in drug delivery, gene therapy, and 
potential application for on-demand liposome-mediated delivery of 
point-of-care therapeutics. The inventions can obviate the need for 
post-processing in drug manufacturing.
    NIST is authorized to license its rights in these inventions to 
organizations on a non-exclusive or exclusive basis for specified 
fields of use. The rights to these patents are available for exclusive 
or non-exclusive licensing by the authority granted to the NIST under 
35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404. NIST researchers are interested in 
potential collaborations with licensees to bring this invention to 
practical application and to promote innovation, enhance economic 
security and improve quality of life.

Kevin Kimball,
Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2016-26995 Filed 11-8-16; 8:45 am]
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