[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10776-10777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03015]


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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 invention listed below is owned by an agency of the U.S. 
Government and is available for licensing 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.

[[Page 10777]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Licensing information and copies of 
the patent applications listed below may be obtained by communicating 
with the indicated licensing contact at the Technology Transfer and 
Intellectual Property Office, National Institute of Allergy and 
Infectious Diseases, 5601 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852; tel. 301-
496-2644. A signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be required 
to receive copies of unpublished patent applications.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Technology description follows.

Single-Chain Antibodies Directed to Norovirus GI.1 and GII.4 and Their 
Use

    Description of Technology: Vaccines and therapies to prevent and 
treat Norovirus infections are not available, despite the worldwide 
prevalence of Norovirus infections. Outbreaks of human gastroenteritis 
attributable to Norovirus commonly occur in group settings, such as 
hospitals, nursing homes, schools, dormitories, cruise ships and 
military barracks. This application claims isolated VHH monoclonal 
antibodies that specifically bind to a Norovirus polypeptide. Llama-
derived single chain antibody fragments (also called VHH) are small, 
recombinant monoclonal antibodies of 15 kDa (``nanobodies'') with 
several advantages over conventional antibodies. The antibodies that 
were derived from llamas showed strong neutralizing activity against 
Norovirus in in vitro assays. These nanobodies may have application as 
immunoprophylaxis to protect individuals from infections or as a 
possible treatment for infected individuals, or can be used to develop 
a diagnostic for detection of norovirus infections, and may be 
potentially utilized in vaccine research.
    This technology is available for licensing for commercial 
development in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR part 404, as 
well as for further development and evaluation under a research 
collaboration.
    Potential Commercial Applications:

 Therapeutics
 Diagnostics
 Vaccine research

    Competitive Advantages:

 Ease of manufacture
 Potent neutralizing activity
 Potential cross-reactivity
 Low-cost therapeutics/immunoprophylaxis

    Development Stage:

 In vivo data assessment (animal)

    Inventors: Lisbeth Kim Green (NIAID), Karin Bok (NIAID), Stanislav 
Sosnovtsev (NIAID), Marina Bok (EM), Pamela Aguilar (EM), Lorena 
Garaicoechea (EM), and Viviana Parreno (EM).
    Publications: Garaicoechea L. et al., ``Llama nanoantibodies with 
therapeutic potential against human norovirus diarrhea,'' PLoS One. 
2015 Aug 12;10(8):e0133665. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133665. 
eCollection 2015. [PMID 26267898].
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-136-2013/0--U.S. 
Provisional Application No. 61/821,354, filed May 9, 2013; PCT 
Application No. PCT/US2014/037520, filed May 9, 2014; European 
Application No. 14727696.8, filed May 9, 2014 (pending); U.S. 
Application No. 14/889,774, filed November 6, 2015 (pending); and 
Argentine Application No. 20140101882, filed May 9, 2014 (pending).
    Licensing Contact: Peter Soukas, J.D., 301-594-8730; 
[email protected].
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases is seeking statements of capability or 
interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further 
develop, evaluate or commercialize for development of a therapeutic, 
diagnostic or vaccine for Norovirus infections. For collaboration 
opportunities, please contact Peter Soukas, J.D., 301-594-8730; 
[email protected].

    Dated: February 8, 2017.
Suzanne Frisbie,
Deputy Director, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office, 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
[FR Doc. 2017-03015 Filed 2-14-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P