55496 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 184 / Friday, September 22, 2006 / Notices 

requests, comments, and return address 

to: crouleau@hqe.ihs.gov. 

Comment Due Date: Your comments 

regarding this information collection are 

best assured of having their full effect if 

received within 30 days of the date of 

this publication. 

Dated: September 15, 2006. 

Robert G. McSwain, 

Deputy Director, Indian Health Service. 

[FR Doc. 06–8021 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4165–16–M 

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. 

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. 

An HIV Protein for Use as a Novel 

Therapeutic or Vaccine Component 

Description of Technology: Latent HIV 

presents a challenge for complete 

removal of the virus in infected 

individuals and is becoming an 

increasingly important consideration in 

the identification of potential HIV 

therapeutics or treatment regimens. 

These transcriptionally inactive HIV 

reservoirs lay dormant in a portion of 

infected cells and are capable of evading 

both host defenses and existing 

antiretroviral therapy. The present 

technology offers a potential solution for 

complete eradication of HIV in infected 

individuals. 

This technology describes 

immunogenic and therapeutic 

compositions related to HIV p28TEV

protein, first protein expressed during 

HIV infection in the case of the pHXB2 

isolate. p28TEV functions in the 

regulation of HIV transcription and may 

be important for the expression of latent 

virus. A number of p28TEV associated 

compositions are available for licensing 

and commercial development including: 

(1) The p28TEV polypeptide from one or 

more HIV clades, (2) nucleic acids 

encoding these p28TEV polypeptides, (3) 

a polypeptide with significant sequence 

homology to p28TEV, and (4) 

immunogenic fragments of these 

polypeptides. Additional compositions 

include antibodies and antagonists that 

act to inhibit p28TEV activity. Adjuvants, 

immunomodulators and compounds 

used in combination with p28TEV for the 

treatment of HIV infection are also 

included in the available technology. 

Applications: (1) Novel therapeutics 

for treatment of HIV infection; (2) Novel 

HIV vaccine component. 

Development Status: Preclinical data 

are available at this time. 

Inventors: Genoveffa Franchini et al. 

(NCI) 

Patent Status: U.S. Patent Application 

No. 11/364,873 filed 27 Feb 2006 (HHS 

Reference No. E–072–2004/3–US–01) 

Licensing Status: Available for 

exclusive or non-exclusive licensing. 

Licensing Contact: Susan Ano, PhD; 

301/435–5515; anos@mail.nih.gov. 

Collaborative Research Opportunities: 

The National Cancer Institute Vaccine 

Branch is seeking statements of 

capability or interest from parties 

interested in collaborative research to 

further develop, evaluate, or 

commercialize Methods of Targeting the 

Establishment of the HIV Viral 

Reservoir. Please contact Betty Tong, 

PhD at 301–594–4263 or 

tongb@mail.nih.gov for more 

information. 

Swine Hepatitis E Virus Available for 

Use in Diagnosis, Prevention and 

Treatment of Hepatitis E 

Description of Technology: Hepatitis E 

virus (HEV) is the cause of Hepatitis E, 

a liver disease that occurs primarily in 

developing countries due to fecal 

contaminated drinking water. Outbreaks 

of HEV infection have caused epidemics 

in Africa, Central and Southeast Asia 

and Mexico and cases of the disease 

have also been reported sporadically in 

more developed countries. Hepatitis E is 

most often overcome by a host’s natural 

defenses; however the disease is more 

severe in pregnant women, who exhibit 

a 20% mortality rate due to HEV 

infection. Presently, no vaccines or 

therapeutic agents, which prevent or 

treat HEV infection, are commercially 

provided. 

An isolated strain of swine HEV is 

currently available for licensing and 

commercial development. The 

nucleotide and amino acid sequences of 

the available virus are significantly 

homologous to human HEV and 

antibodies induced by the agent were 

shown to cross react with a human HEV 

antigen. The present technology 

provides a mechanism for augmenting 

the immune response against HEV in 

infected individuals and is thus useful 

for the development of novel vaccines 

and therapeutics for prevention and 

treatment of HEV infection in humans. 

In addition, the available viral strain 

may be used to develop diagnostic tools 

for efficient detection of HEV 

contamination of food and water in 

developing countries, especially in 

regions of Africa, Asia and Mexico, 

where HEV is endemic. 

Applications: (1) Development of 

diagnostic tools for identification and 

detection of HEV infection; (2) HEV 

vaccination in developing countries, 

where individuals are at higher risk for 

infection; (3) Research and development 

of anti-HEV therapeutics agents. 

Development Status: Preclinical data 

are available at this time. 

Inventors: Xiang-jin Meng, Robert H. 

Purcell, Suzanne U. Emerson (NIAID) 

Patent Status: U.S. Patent No. 

6,432,408 issued 13 Aug 2002 (HHS 

Reference No. E–203–1997/0–US–04) 

and European Patent Application No. 

98934568 filed 17 Jul 1998 (HHS 

Reference No. E–203–1997/0–EP–03) 

Licensing Status: Available for nonexclusive or exclusive licensing. 

Licensing Contact: Chekesha 

Clingman, PhD; 301/435–5018; 

clingmac@mail.nih.gov. 

Collaborative Research Opportunity: 

The NIAID Laboratory of Infectious 

Diseases, Hepatitis Viruses Section, is 

seeking statements of capability or 

interest from parties interested in 

collaborative research to further 

develop, evaluate, or commercialize 

swine HEV or its products. Please 

contact Robert H. Purcell at 

rpurcell@niaid.nih.gov for more 

information. 

Dated: September 18, 2006. 

Steven M. Ferguson, 

Director, Division of Technology Development 

and Transfer, Office of Technology Transfer, 

National Institutes of Health. 

[FR Doc. 06–8080 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 


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