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[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 156 (Monday, August 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46491-46492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6881]

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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.

Licensing Opportunity

From the National Institutes of Health

Target-Specific Activatable Optical Probes for In Vivo Imaging

Description of Technology

    Available for licensing and commercial development is an optical 
imaging method capable of detecting living cancer cells in vivo. The 
method increases sensitivity and reduces the background signal to 
extremely low levels. In contrast to conventional fluorescent imaging, 
the strategy activates the probe after it binds to and is internalized 
within cancer cells. Using antibodies, reagent-receptor systems, or 
cytokines to target the agent to the cancer, the agent is internalized 
by the normal cellular process of endocytosis which in turn, leads to 
molecular changes within the probe itself; fluorophores are activated 
only in the living targeted cells.
    An activatable fluorophore is one that is normally self-quenched by 
attachment to a peptide backbone but which can be activated by specific 
proteases which degrade the peptide resulting in ``de-quenching.'' For 
example, self-quenching avidin-rhodaminex, which has affinity for 
lectin on cancer cells, is activated after endocytosis and degradation 
within the lysosome. Cellular internalization of receptor-ligand pairs 
with subsequent activation of fluorescence via ``de-quenching'' 
provides a generalizable and highly sensitive method of detecting 
cancer microfoci in vivo and has practical implications for assisting 
surgical and endoscopic procedures.

Application(s)

    2. Optical detection of tumor cells and metastatic nodules
    4. Photodynamic treatment of tumors

[[Page 46492]]

Market

     Cancer Imaging

Development Status

     Early-stage technology with pre-clinical mouse models as 
of 18 July 2006

Inventors

     Hisataka Kobayashi (NCI)
     Peter Choyke (NCI)
     Urano Yasuteru (University of Tokyo)

Patent Status

     U.S. Provisional Patent Application filed June 30, 2006 
(serial number not assigned); closely related to HHS Ref. No. E-335-
2005; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/751,429 filed December 
16, 2005.

Availability

     Available for exclusive, non-exclusive licensing or 
collaborative opportunity.

Licensing Contact

    Chekesha S. Clingman, PhD., Technology Licensing Specialist, Office 
of Technology Transfer, The National Institutes of Health, 6011 
Executive Blvd., Suite 325, Rockville, MD 20852, phone: (301) 435-5018, 
fax: (301) 402-0220, [email protected].

Collaborative Research Opportunity

    The NCI Molecular Imaging Program is seeking statements of 
capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative 
research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize target specific 
activatable optical probes. Please contact Hisataka Kobayashi or Peter 
Choyke at 301-451-4220 [email protected] for more information.

    Dated: July 31, 2006.
Steven M. Ferguson,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 06-6881 Filed 8-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M
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