[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 78 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19074-19075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08350]


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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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Soukas, J.D., 301-594-8730; 
[email protected]. 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unpublished patent applications.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.

Live Attenuated Zika Virus Vaccine

Description of Technology

    This application claims live attenuated Zika viruses and vaccines, 
attenuated chimeric Zika viruses and vaccines, and multivalent 
immunogenic compositions comprising Zika vaccines and vaccines for 
other flaviviruses. The chimeric Zika viruses claimed include a first 
nucleotide sequence encoding at least one structural protein from a 
Zika virus (ZIKV), a second nucleotide sequence encoding at least one 
nonstructural protein from a first flavivirus, and a third nucleotide 
sequence of a 3' untranslated region from a second flavivirus. The 
multivalent immunogenic compositions claimed comprise an attenuated 
ZIKV vaccine or an attenuated chimeric ZIKV vaccine (or their 
combination) together with one or more of a first attenuated virus that 
is immunogenic against dengue serotype 1, a second attenuated virus 
that is immunogenic against dengue serotype 2, a third attenuated virus 
that is immunogenic against dengue serotype 3, and a fourth attenuated 
virus that is immunogenic against dengue serotype 4. The present 
disclosure also claims methods of inducing immune responses, as well as 
preventing ZIKV and another flavivirus, e.g., dengue virus.
    Such a chimeric vaccine candidate may induce a humoral (antibody) 
and T-cell response to ZIKV, while the nonstructural proteins of dengue 
virus will likely induce a T-cell response. The dengue platform also 
contains a deletion in the TL2 stem-loop structure of the 3' 
untranslated region (UTR), called [Delta]30 and [Delta]30/31 
attenuating mutations. The [Delta]30 deletion has proven to be one of 
the defining characteristics of the successful one dose dengue vaccine, 
which is currently in a large scale (17,000 patient) clinical trial in 
Brazil.
    This technology is available for licensing for commercial 
development

[[Page 19075]]

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

 Diagnostics
 Vaccines

Competitive Advantages

 One-dose vaccine
 Ease of manufacture
 Can be included in multivalent flavivirus vaccines

Development Stage

 In vivo data available (animal)

    Inventors: S. Whitehead (NIAID), S. Woodson (NIAID), A. Pletnev 
(NIAID), K. Tsetsarkin (NIAID), A. Durbin (Johns Hopkins University)
    Intellectual Property: HHS Reference No. E-118-2016/0, U.S. 
Provisional Patent Application Number 62/307,170, filed March 11, 2016, 
PCT Patent Application TBA filed March 11, 2017.
    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 norovirus diagnostics or vaccines. 
For collaboration opportunities, please contact Peter Soukas, J.D., 
301-594-8730; [email protected].

    Dated: April 12, 2017.
Suzanne Frisbie,
Deputy Director, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office, 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
[FR Doc. 2017-08350 Filed 4-24-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P