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The development of an effective HIV vaccine has been an ongoing area of research. The high variability in HIV-1 virus strains has represented a major challenge in successful development. Ideally, an effective candidate vaccine would provide protection against the majority of clades of HIV. Two major hurdles to overcome are immunodominance and sequence diversity. This vaccine utilizes a strategy for overcoming these two issues by identifying the conserved regions of the virus and exploiting them for use in a targeted therapy. NCI seeks licensees and/or research collaborators to commercialize this technology, which has been validated in macaque models.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute discovered small-molecule compounds whose activity against HIV-1 integrase mutants confer greater resistance than currently approved INSTIs. Preliminary DMPK and ADME studies have been completed by the NCI researchers. The National Cancer Institute seeks partners to commercialize this class of compounds through licensing or co-development.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) seeks licensees for a mouse model of CD4+ T cell deficiency. The mice carry alleles with germline and conditional deletions of the Zbtb7b gene encoding the zinc finger transcription factor ThPOK or cKrox, essential for the development and function of CD4+ T cells.

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.

Prevention and control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections require a vaccine providing long-lasting protection. The most promising vaccine up to date consists of a regimen of immunization with genetically engineered HIV proteins, including the surface glycoprotein gp120, with a resulting efficacy of ~30%. Recent evidence indicates antibodies produced against variable envelope region 2 (V2) of gp120 in primates are associated with higher levels of protection, while antibodies produced against variable envelope region 1 (V1) have an opposite and interfering effect. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and New York University (NYU) have developed V1-deleted gp120 immunogens using Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), and observed an increase in antibodies against V2 in macaques upon immunization. NCI is seeking parties interested in co-developing and/or licensing V1-deleted gp120 immunogens for their use in an improved HIV vaccine.