Search Technologies

The proto-oncogene c-Myc is deregulated and overexpressed in ~70% of all cancers. Thus, c-Myc is an attractive therapeutic target. Beyond cancer, Myc is also a positive effector of tissue inflammation, and its function has been implicated in the pathophysiology of heart failure. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) developed novel small molecules that target c-Myc at the transcriptional level, thus enabling a potential pan-cancer therapeutic. Specifically, these compounds stabilize the transcription repressing quadruplex in the c-Myc gene promoter region. The National Cancer Institute seeks parties interested in licensing or collaborative research to co-develop these therapeutic targets.'

Chk2 is a protein kinase activated in response to DNA double strand breaks. In normal tissues, Chk2 phosphorylates and thereby activates substrates that induce programmed cell death, or apoptosis, via interactions with p53, E2F1, PML proteins. In cancer tissues, where apoptosis is suppressed, Chk2 phosphorylates and inactivates cell cycle checkpoints (via interactions with Cdc25, phosphatases and Brca1 proteins), which allows cancer cells to repair and tolerate DNA damage. Hence, Chk2 inhibitors would be expected to protect normal tissues by reducing apoptosis, and to sensitize cancer cells to DNA-targeted agents. The National Cancer Institute seeks licensees for small molecule inhibitors of Chk2 for the treatment of cancer.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) seeks licensees for a monoclonal antibody specific to the GalNAc1-3Gal antigen that is present in human carcinomas. The antibody can be used as a research tool for a variety of purposes, including immunohistochemical staining of various human carcinomas. The antibody may also be useful as a prognostic marker for cervical cancer.

The National Cancer Institute’s Surgery Branch seeks partners interested in collaborative research to co-develop adoptive transfer of tumor infiltrating leukocytes (TIL) for cancers other than melanoma.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a novel method for identifying neoantigen reactive T cells and T cell receptors (TCRs), isolated from fresh tumors of common epithelial cancers. This highly specific and sensitive method allows rapid determination of the neoantigen reactive TCR sequences and can be very useful to translate this information into TCR-engineered T-cell populations for immunotherapy without the need to grow tumor infiltrating T-cells and expensive, time-consuming screening. The NCI seeks research co-development partners and/or licensees for this invention.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Vaccine Branch, seeks research co-development or licenses for a novel method of improving HIV vaccine efficacy by activating Ras signaling. Upregulating the Ras pathway can improve an HIV patient’s immune response to anti-retroviral vaccines.

Scientists at The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have invented a method of imaging glucose metabolism in vivo using MRI chemical shift imaging (CSI) experiments that relies on a simple, but robust and efficient, post-processing procedure by the higher dimensional analog of singular value decomposition, tensor decomposition. This new technology is denoising software for MRIs that significantly improves the measurement of low-intensity signals without the need for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). The scientists seek research co-development partners and/or licensees for their invention.

Investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have discovered an adjuvanted mucosal subunit vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission and infection. The mucosal vaccine is composed of a novel molecular adjuvant nanoparticle that induces robust humoral and cellular immunity, as well as trained innate immunity with enhanced protection against respiratory SARS-CoV-2 exposure. The technology is available for potential licensing or collaborative research to co-develop these therapeutic targets.

NCI researchers developed a combination therapy of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, virus-based vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, cell-based treatments or radiopharmaceuticals. The NCI Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology seeks parties to license or co-develop this method.