[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70010-70011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-28847]


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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, Public Health Service, 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. 207 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.

ADDRESSES: 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 be required to receive 
copies of the patent applications.

Novel Anti-HIV Acylthiol Drugs and Thioether Prodrugs

    Description of Invention: The inventions provide the compositions, 
pharmaceutical carrier, and usages of the new Acylthiols (E-329-2000 
family) and Thioether pro-drug (E-177-2010 family) compounds in 
treatment of retroviral infections such as HIV. More specifically, 
these compounds target the highly-conserved nucleocapsid protein of 
HIV-1. Activity of these compounds against the nucleocapsid protein 
leads to inactivation of the virus via disruption of the zinc fingers, 
integral for infectivity, without significantly affecting cellular 
proteins. Finally, these inventions can be prepared from inexpensive 
starting materials and two ``one-pot'' reactions. Thus, they open the 
possibility for an effective drug treatment for HIV that could reach 
underdeveloped countries. These new compounds have the potential to be 
used both as a systemic drug for the treatment of HIV-1 infection and 
as a topically-applied barrier to prevent viral transmission.
    Applications: Treatment and prevention of HIV infections.
    Advantages:
     Potent anti-HIV activity.
     Could be used both systemically and locally.
     Unlikely to develop any drug resistance.
     Can be inexpensively manufactured in a large scale.
    Development Status: In vitro data available.
    Market: According to the 2008 UNAIDS report, there were 33 million 
people living with AIDS in 2007, with 2.7 million new cases occurring 
in that year. In the US alone, there are 1.2 million AIDS patients.
    The anti-HIV drug market is among the fastest-growing 
pharmaceutical markets in the world. Due to the large target market, 
duration of therapy (lifetime), and nature of the disease (incurable), 
manufacturers will continue to benefit from technological advancements. 
In 2007, the seven Major Markets (7MM; US, Japan, Italy, Germany, UK, 
Spain and France) generated $9.3B in sales of antiretroviral drugs. 
These markets are expected to grow to $15.1B by 2017.
    The current product market segments for anti-retrovirals are: 
protease inhibitors (PI), nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors 
(NRTI), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), entry 
inhibitors (EI), integrase inhibitors (II), and maturation inhibitors 
(Other).
    Inventors: Daniel Appella (NIDDK), Ettore Appella (NCI), John K. 
Inman (NIAID), Deyun Wang (NIDDK), Lisa M. Miller Jenkins (NCI), Ryo 
Hayashi (NCI).
    Publications:
    1. Miller Jenkins LM, et al. Nature Chemical Biology, in press.
    2. Miller Jenkins LM, et al. Specificity of acyl transfer from 2-
mercaptobenzamide thioesters to the HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein. J Am 
Chem Soc. 2007 Sep12;129(36):11067-11078. [PubMed: 17705474]
    3. Schito ML, et al. In vivo antiviral activity of novel human 
immunodeficiency virus type 1 nucleocapsid p7 zinc finger inhibitors in 
a transgenic murine model. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2003 Feb;19:91-
101. [PubMed: 12639244]
    Patent Status:
     U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/353,274 filed 10 Jun 
2010 (HHS Reference No. E-177-2010/0-US-01).
     PCT/US02/23924 (HHS Reference No. E-329-2000/0-PCT-02) and 
entered national stage in the U.S. (Patent No. 7,528,274 and Patent 
Application No. 12/414,321), Canada (Patent Application No. 2456083), 
Australia (Patent No. 2002322721), and Europe (Patent Application No. 
02756732.0).
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing.
    Licensing Contact: Sally Hu, Ph.D.; 301-435-5606; [email protected].
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The Laboratory of Cell Biology, 
Center for Cancer Research is seeking statements of capability or 
interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further 
develop, evaluate, or commercialize the above invention for the 
treatment/prevention of HIV infection. Please contact John Hewes, Ph.D. 
at 301-435-3121 or [email protected] for more information.

[[Page 70011]]

Scanningless Multiphoton Microscopy with Diffraction-Limited Axial 
Resolution

    Description of Invention: The technology offered for licensing is a 
scanningless multiphoton microscope for performing 3-dimensional 
imaging that achieves diffraction-limited resolution. The microscope 
combines temporal multiplexing with spatial dispersion to achieve 
diffraction-limited resolution without having to mechanically scan the 
sample (a field of view up to 30x30 microns). The wide-field excitation 
of the sample allows imaging rates in excess to prior art multiphoton 
microscopes while still achieving diffraction-limited axial resolution. 
The microscope includes a laser source that generates a femtosecond 
laser beam that passes through a stair-step optic having a variable 
thickness piece of glass arranged such that each ``strip'' of the laser 
beam is delivered at a different relative delay. Each strip exits the 
stair-step optic and is imaged onto the surface of a diffraction 
grating by two imaging lenses and a mirror. The diffraction grating 
sends the different wavelengths that compose each horizontal strip of 
the laser beam in different directions. Another pair of lenses, such as 
the imaging lens and objective lens (e.g., high numerical aperture 
objective) images and de-magnifies the surface of the diffractive 
grating into a biological sample that causes an excitation to occur in 
the sample. The ensuing excitation generates fluorescence in the sample 
confined to the focal plane of the objective lens, where the excitation 
is maximized. The fluorescence is collected through the objective lens 
and then by a CCD camera.
    Applications:
     The invention provides a high resolution multiphoton 
microscopy device to the laboratory instrumentation market.
     The uses of such a device would predominantly be for 
research in biological imaging.
     The device provides the ability to image a large frame 
rapidly and with relatively low energy and thus without burning the 
sample or destroying subcellular structures.
    Inventors: Hari Shroff and Andrew York (NIBIB).
    Patent Status: U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/385,409 filed 22 
Sep 2010 (HHS Reference No. E-105-2010/0-US-01).
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing.
    Licensing Contacts:
     Uri Reichman, Ph.D., MBA; 301-435-4616; [email protected].
     Michael Shmilovich, Esq.; 301-435-5019; 
[email protected].
    Collaborative Research Opportunity: The National Institute of 
Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Section on High Resolution 
Optical Imaging is seeking statements of capability or interest from 
parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, 
evaluate, or commercialize this invention. Please contact Dr. Henry 
Eden at [email protected] for more information.

Myosin-Based Protein-Protein Interaction Assay

    Description of Invention: Investigators at the National Institute 
on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) have developed an 
assay for the detection of protein-protein interactions in living 
cells. This assay uses readily-available reagents and straightforward 
techniques that avoid the difficulty of purifying proteins or 
generating antibodies required for other binding studies. Proof-of-
concept for this assay has been demonstrated, and a manuscript is in 
preparation for publication.
    This technology utilizes a molecular motor, myosin X, which 
migrates along actin filaments within cells. A protein fused to a 
fragment of myosin X will carry its binding partners to the cell 
periphery. Since the myosin fusion protein and its partner are labeled 
with different fluorescent tags, an unambiguous fluorescence overlap 
will be visible as discrete points along the periphery of the cell. The 
inventors have designed a number of cDNAs for the construction of 
fusion proteins appropriate for such an assay.
    Available for licensing are a variety of cDNAs which may be used 
for generating fluorescently-tagged myosin X fusion proteins, for use 
in the assay described above. Also available are a number of constructs 
incorporating other fluorescently-tagged myosins, kinesins, myosin and 
kinesin binding partners and a variety of PDZ scaffold proteins. 
Further details of the available cDNAs are available upon request.
    Applications:
     Identification of protein-protein binding interactions in 
living cells.
     DNA-based tools for study of myosins, trafficking, 
signaling complexes and other research focusing on molecular motors.
    Advantages:
     Assay avoids the need to purify proteins or generate 
antibodies for binding studies.
     Protein-protein interactions can be unambiguously 
identified.
    Development Status: Proof of concept has been demonstrated.
    Inventors: Erich T. Boger, Inna A. Belyantseva, Thomas B. Friedman 
(NIDCD).
    Relevant Publication: Belyantseva IA et al. Myosin-XVa is required 
for tip localization of whirlin and differential elongation of hair-
cell stereocilia. Nat Cell Biol. 2005 Feb;7(2):148-156. [PubMed: 
15654330]
    Patent Status: HHS Reference Nos. E-069-2009/0, E-069-2009/1, E-
069-2009/2, E-069-2009/3, E-069-2009/4, E-069-2009/5, E-069-2009/6, and 
E-069-2009/7--Research Tool. Patent protection is not being sought for 
this invention.
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing under a Biological 
Materials License Agreement.
    Licensing Contact: Tara L. Kirby, Ph.D.; 301-435-4426; 
[email protected].

    Dated: November 9, 2010.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2010-28847 Filed 11-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P