News

Three new cancer therapies recently approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) – avelumab (BAVENCIO®), axicabtagene ciloleucel (YESCARTA®) and moxetumomab pasudotox (LUMOXITI™) – are the result of significant efforts by researchers from NCI’s Center for Cancer Research. Read more about these examples of technology transfer at work in the May - June 2019 issue of The NIH Catalyst, a publication about NIH Intramural Research.

NCI TTC and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) will host the 2019 Technology Showcase on June 12.  The third annual event will highlight technologies being developed at the NCI and FNLCR to encourage startup company formation, technology licensing and collaborations. Richard Bendis, President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, a Maryland public-private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of commercially relevant science, will provide the keynote address. The half-day event will take place at the Advanced Research and Development Facility in Frederick, Maryland. Learn more @ 2019 Technology Showcase. 

TTC's Sidra Ahsan, Ph.D., received the FLC MAR 2018 "Rookie of the Year Award," presented at the FLC MAR regional meeting. This FLC award recognizes the efforts of an FLC laboratory technology transfer (TT) professional who has demonstrated “outstanding work in the field of technology transfer in a manner significantly over and above what was called for in the normal course of their work during the past year.” The nominee must be new to technology transfer, with three years (or less) experience in a TT position. 

Notable Technology Transfer Contributions

In less than two years with TTC, Sidra Ahsan, Ph.D., is making a significant, positive impact on behalf of NCI. Dr. Ahsan, a technology transfer manager and TTC fellow, has diligently endeavored to increase her knowledge and application of technology transfer. The volume and scope of projects that she has tackled in her short tenure has helped position NCI to meet its mission today and in the future. Dr. Ahsan has taken on a wide-range of projects involving both extramural partnerships and intramural labs and managed several clinical trial agreements that helped advance testing of important, new therapies. Dr. Ahsan supports investigators from NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) and the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP). In the last year, Dr. Ahsan negotiated several CRADAs, Clinical Trial Agreements, and amendments for CCR and DCP. These agreements made possible the initiation of four important clinical trials examining: therapies for breast cancer, a rare brain cancer, colon cancer prevention, and ovarian cancer development and progression.

Dr. Ahsan also contributed to several TTC working groups and passed the USPTO registration exam to become a registered patent agent in 2018. “I believe that Sidra’s notable accomplishments reflect the high-level of TT work taking place in our office every day,” commented TTC Director Dr. Thomas Stackhouse. Congratulations to Sidra on a well-deserved accomplishment, and thanks to those in TTC who have mentored her and supported her success.
 

NCI TTC's new start-up license program makes it easier and more financially attractive for start-ups to license a technology from NCI or any of the ICs supported by the TTC Service Center. Launched in October 2017 in response to feedback from companies, "NCI Startup 2.0" updates and enhances previous licensing options for start-up companies.

The program offers a term-limited, exclusive Start-up Evaluation Option License to start-up companies developing early-stage vaccine, therapeutic, device, and diagnostic technologies. To learn more about the program – including the criteria that companies need to meet to qualify, the license features, and the process for startups to obtain a license, please see Tech Transfer Start-up Licenses.

Launching the updated start-up licensing program was the result of months of work by two separate project teams. The teams were comprised of a variety of TTC staff who considered and analyzed the original program that was established by the Office of Technology Transfer.  The goal was to develop an enhanced program that met the unique needs of a start-up company versus the licensing options available to larger companies and organizations.

“From some very diligent work and analysis of the original program, our two project teams were able to identify key issues that our original start-up licensees found problematic,” commented TTC Associate Director Richard Rodriguez. “One key factor was the original term of the start-up option license, which was 12 months.  This was clearly insufficient time for our licensees to raise capital or concurrently conduct pre-clinical experiments. The new program provides 24 months, which we believe will better assist our licensees in meeting their obligations.  Other changes will make it easier for our start-up licensees to bring a product to the market.”