Search Technologies

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that typically affects the lungs. Current therapies include a panel of antibiotics given over a range of 6-9 months. As a result of the expense of treatment, the extended timeframe needed for effective treatment, and the scarcity of medicines in some developing countries, patient compliance with TB treatment is very low and results in multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). There remains a need for a faster, more effective treatment for TB. NCI researchers seek licensing and/or co-development of peptide inhibitors of STAT3 and IL-10 developed to treat bacterial infections such as tuberculosis. See aslo: NIH inventions E-164-2007 and E-167-2010

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) developed a novel stealth lipid-based nanoparticle formulation comprising phospholipid, DC8,9PC and a polyethylene glycol-ated (PEGylated) lipid – such as DSPE-PEG2000 – that efficiently package a high amounts of hydrophobic photodynamic drug (PDT) – such as HPPH – in stable vesicles. This HPPH-loaded liposome system demonstrates higher serum stability and ambient temperature stability upon storage. It exhibits increased tumor accumulation and improved animal survival in mice tumor models compared to the formulation in current clinical trials. The NCI seeks co-development partners and/or corporate licensees for the application of the technology as an anti-cancer therapeutic.

Novel fusion proteins with good stability and potency against HIV-1. These fusion proteins have good drug properties and potential as prophylactics or therapeutics against HIV-1 infection. Researchers at the NCI seek licensing for the development and commercialization of novel fusion proteins as therapeutics or prophylactics against HIV-1 infection.

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.

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.

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.

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute's Molecular Targets Laboratory have discovered that Cnidarins as a novel class of highly potent proteins capable of blocking the HIV virus from penetrating T-cells. The National Cancer Institute seeks parties interested in collaborative research to license or co-develop large-scale recombinant production of cnidarins.

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a novel delivery platform in which the scaffold of an anionic hydrogel (AcVES3) can be attenuated to deliver therapeutic small molecules, peptides, proteins, nanoparticles, or whole cells. The NCI seeks collaborators and licensees for the development of this technology in various clinical and laboratory applications.

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.