Search Technologies

The promise of RNA interference based therapeutics is made evident by the recent surge of biotechnological drug companies that pursue such therapies and their progression into human clinical trials. The present technology discloses novel RNA  and RNA/DNA nanoparticles including multiple siRNAs, RNA aptamers, fluorescent dyes, and proteins. The National Cancer Institute sees parties interested licensing this technology  or in collaborative research to co-develop RNAi-based nanoparticle therapeutics for cancer and HIV.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) RNA Biology Laboratory have developed nanoparticles that can deliver an agent (i.e., therapeutic or imaging) and release the agent upon targeted photoactivation allowing for controlled temporal and localized release of the agent.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) seeks licensing of Bac-2-the-Future, an improved system for the production of recombinant baculovirus.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed nucleic-acid-based nanoparticle that can be adapted for RNA interference (RNAi), molecular imaging, or a combination thereof. The invention nanoparticles can be used as therapeutics in the treatment of cancer, whichthe NCI seeks parties to license or co-develop.

Pluripotent stem cells are a promising source of T cells for a variety of clinical applications. However, current in vitro methods of T cell differentiation result in the generation of cells with aberrant phenotypes. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have now developed methodology for generating induced pluripotent stem cell thymic emigrants (iTE). Antigen-specific CD8αβ+ iTEs exhibited functional properties in vitro that were almost indistinguishable from natural naïve CD8αβ+ T cells, including vigorous expansion and robust anti-tumor activity. iTEs recapitulated many of the transcriptional programs of naïve T cells in vivo and revealed a striking capacity for engraftment, memory formation, and efficient tumor destruction. The NCI seeks licensing and/or co-development research collaborations for this invention.

Pre-clinical radiotracer biomedical research involves the use of compounds labeled with radioisotopes, including radio-ligand bio-distribution studies, cell binding studies, immune cell labeling techniques, and α-based therapies. Before this Micro-Dose Calibrator, measurement of pre-clinical level dosage for small animal studies was inaccurate and unreliable. This dose calibrator is a prototype ready for customer testing and scale-up. It is designed to accurately measure radioactive doses in the range of 50 nCi (1.8 kBq) to 100 µCi (3.7 MBq) with 99% precision. The NCI seeks co-development or licensing to commercialize it. Alternative uses will be considered.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) developed a multiplex assay to determine the efficacy of apoptosis-related drugs targeting the Bcl2 family of proteins or aid in the selection of cancer patients likely to respond. The NCI seeks partners for co-development or licensees for commercialization of novel immunoassays for determining or predicting patient response to cancer therapy.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) seek research & co-development and/or licensees for a novel, ex vivo method by which stem cell-like memory T cells (Tscm) can be generated by stimulating naïve T cells in the presence of inhibitors of GSK-3beta, which are capable of activating the Wnt pathway. These Tscm cells, generated using GSK-3beta inhibitors, display enhanced survival and proliferation upon transfer, have multipotent capacity to generate all memory and effector T cell subsets, and show increased anti-tumor activity in a humanized mouse tumor model.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) seeks research co-development partners and/or licensees for a method to identify T cells with preferred phenotypes for increased response from adoptive immunotherapy.