53430 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 16, 2008 / Notices 

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. 

Monoclonal Antibodies Against 

Bordetella pertussis Filamentous 

Hemagglutinin (FHA) Protein 

Description of Technology: 

Filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) is 

one of the major adhesion molecules of 

Bordetella pertussis, a bacterial 

infection that causes whopping cough. 

Once thought to be primarily a 

childhood disease, B. pertussis infection 

shows an increasing incidence among 

adults as well as infants. Recent CDC 

reports show an almost 19-fold increase 

in the number of cases among 10–19 

year olds and an almost 16-fold increase 

among those 20 and older. These data 

underscore the need for a new 

generation of vaccines and detailed 

studies focused on the pathways of B. 

pertussis infectivity. 

Available for licensing are three 

hybridoma cell lines capable of 

expressing monoclonal antibodies 

against FHA. ELISA and Western blot 

analyses have shown that these 

antibodies, map to specific epitopes, can 

successfully bind to FHA as well as 

prevent binding of the purified FHA to 

various cells. The additional studies 

showed that one antibody was able to 

prevent the adhesion of B. pertussis to 

epithelial cell monolayers. These 

findings show that monoclonal 

antibodies expressed in featured 

hybridoma cell lines can be successfully 

used for studies of infectivity 

mechanisms as well as development of 

new diagnostics and acellular vaccines 

against B. pertussis. 

Applications: 

• New generation of diagnostics. 

• Acellular vaccine development. 

Inventor: Michael Brennan (CBER/ 

FDA). 

Relevant Publications: 

1. Leininger E, Probst PG, Brennan 

MJ, Kenimer JG. Inhibition of Bordetella 

pertussis filamentous hemagglutininmediated cell adherence with 

monoclonal antibodies. FEMS Microbiol 

Lett. 1993 Jan 1;106(1):31–38. 

2. Leininger E, Bowen S, RenauldMonge ́nie G, Rouse JH, Menozzi FD, 

Locht C, Heron I, Brennan MJ. 

Immunodominant domains present on 

the Bordetella pertussis vaccine 

component filamentous hemagglutinin. 

J Infect Dis. 1997 Jun;175(6):1423–1431. 

Patent Status: HHS Reference No. E– 

044–2008/0—Research Tool. Patent 

protection is not being sought for this 

technology. 

Licensing Status: Available for nonexclusive licensing. 

Licensing Contact: Susan Ano, PhD; 

301–435–5515; anos@mail.nih.gov. 

Automated Method for Rapid Detection 

of Sickle Cell Disease Inhibitors 

Description of Technology: Available 

for licensing is a rapid and automated 

method for discovering potential drugs 

for the treatment of sickle cell anemia 

by determining the sickling times for a 

large population of red blood cells. The 

method uses a combination of laser 

photolysis and statistical processing of 

digital images. Sickle cell disease is an 

inherited disorder that affects over 

70,000 Americans. The disease is 

characterized by presence of mutant 

hemoglobin S in red blood cells, which 

polymerizes to form fibers when 

deoxygenated. Such fibers lead to 

distortion of red blood cells into the 

shape of a sickle and alter the 

mechanical properties of these cells. 

Studies demonstrate that the time to 

polymerization involves a delay time 

and rapid growth phase and is 

particularly sensitive to hemoglobin 

concentration. As a result, identification 

of drugs that inhibit sickle cell disease 

is accomplished using an assay for delay 

times for populations of red blood cells. 

The invention creates a uniform time at 

which polymerization is initiated for all 

red blood cells in the sample region and 

accurately determines the time at which 

cellular distortion begins for each cell. 

Potential drugs are those compounds 

that significantly increase the delay time 

of sickling time, i.e. the time at which 

the cell changes shape due to 

intracellular polymerization. 

Applications: 

• Rapid automated detection of 

compounds that inhibit sickling and are 

therefore potential drugs for sickle cell 

disease. 

• Objective assay for monitoring 

disease severity. 

Development Status: The technology 

is capable of determining the 

distribution of cellular delay times in a 

large number of samples in series in a 

48 well plate format 

Inventors: Jeffrey F. Smith, H. James 

Hofrichter, and William A. Eaton 

(NIDDK). 

Patent Status: 

• U.S. Patent Application No. 11/ 

652,843, filed 11 Jan 2007 (HHS 

Reference No. E–021–2007/0–US–01). 

• PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/ 

000427 filed 11 Jan 2008 (HHS 

Reference No. E–021–2007/0–PCT–02). 

Licensing Status: Available for 

licensing. 

Licensing Contact: Cristina 

Thalhammer-Reyero, PhD, M.B.A.; 301– 

435–4507; thalhamc@mail.nih.gov. 

Collaborative Research Opportunity: 

The NIDDK Laboratory of Chemical 

Physics is seeking statements of 

capability or interest from parties 

interested in collaborative research to 

further develop, evaluate, or 

commercialize this technology. Please 

contact Rochelle S. Blaustein, J.D. at 

301–451–3636 or 

rochelle.blaustein@nih.gov for more 

information. 

Dated: September 9, 2008. 

Richard U. Rodriguez, 

Director, Division of Technology Development 

and Transfer, Office of Technology Transfer, 

National Institutes of Health. 

[FR Doc. E8–21505 Filed 9–15–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

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 


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