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NCI Technology Opportunities Webinar: “Complete Tumor Regression Seen in Colon Cancer and Leukemia Animal Models with a Novel High Efficacy Fluorinated Cytidine Therapeutic Compound"

May 7, 2021

00 am - Noon EST

OVERVIEW:

The NCI TTC will host a webinar to highlight NCI’s novel, therapeutic fluorinated cytidine compound that shows high efficacy against colon cancer and leukemia. Studies indicated that the therapeutic compound can produce complete regression in xenograph mouse models with minimal effects on body weight.  Registration is free.

TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

  • Potential therapeutic for various types of cancers – including colon cancer and leukemia
  • Comparative in vivo efficacy study in several human tumor xenograft studies indicated low toxicity and high efficacy vs. gemcitabine.
  • Produced complete tumor regression in colon cancer mouse models with a durable response beyond 150 days
  • Complete tumor regression was observed in a leukemia mouse xenograft model
  • Incorporating fluorine increases lipophilicity through steric and electronic effects.

TECHNOLOGY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

  • Oral activity
  • Increased lipophilicity blocks cancer cell metabolism and increases agent potency
  • Increased selectivity and decreased toxicity compared to other aza-cytidines

Doctor Joel Morris, NCIPRESENTER:

Joel Morris, Ph.D., Chief, Drug Synthesis and Chemistry Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, National Cancer Institute

DATE & TIME: 

May 26, 2021, 11:00am – Noon

WHY ATTEND:

  • Assess the prospect of potentially licensing this technology.
  • Interact with the inventor, ask questions and provide feedback.
  • Learn how to partner with the NCI

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

  • Business development professionals
  • Drug development professionals
  • Biotech/pharma/academia Researchers
  • Investors
  • Entrepreneurs 

 

Save the date! 2021 Technology Showcase

April 15, 2021

EVENT OVERVIEW:

  • The 2021 Technology Showcase on September 1 will showcase technologies being developed at the NCI and the FNL to encourage startup company formation, technology licensing and collaborations. 
  • Free, half-day hybrid event
  • Hear from NCI and FNL inventors about technologies primed for collaboration and/or commercialization
  • Panel sessions focused on technology commercialization
  • Poster session highlighting additional NCI technologies for collaborative development and/or /licensing presented by the NCI Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

  • Life-science / healthcare companies
  • investors, entrepreneurs
  • technology scouts looking for technologies to commercialize
  • Interested stakeholders

DATE:

Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Noon - 5:00 PM  

ATTEND VIRTUALLY or IN-PERSON

FNLCR Advanced Technology Research Facility (ability to offer an in-person event is tentatitve)

REGISTRATION COMING SOON

Marketing and Business Development Fellowship Opportunity at TTC

March 4, 2021

TTC's Invention Development and Marketing Unit is seeking qualified candidates for a specialized Fellowship focused on business development and marketing. This is an opportunity to be part of a team dedicated to de-risking early-stage technologies and marketing them to potential collaborators and licensees. The Fellowship is designed to develop the unique skills associated with marketing a large patent portfolio within a federal technology transfer office.

Market analysis. Outreach. Creating marketing strategies and campaigns. These are just some of the challenges that TTC's Marketing and Business Development Fellows get to tackle. Learn more: https://techtransfer.cancer.gov/aboutttc/jointtc

 

Annual Technology Showcase Named Winner of 2021 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) State and Local Economic Development Award

February 3, 2021

The FLC, a Congressionally mandated organization that educates, promotes, and facilitates federal technology transfer, announced its selection of NCI’s Annual Technology Showcase for its 2021 State and Local Economic Development Award. The FLC State and Local Economic Development Award recognizes successful initiatives that involve partnership between state or local economic development groups and federal laboratories for economic benefit.

The Technology Showcase is an annual event created to provide scientists from NCI and the Frederick National Laboratory (FNL) a platform to highlight the commercial and life-saving potential of their discoveries to an audience of potential collaborators and licensees. It was conceived by the NCI Technology Transfer Center, the Frederick National Laboratory’s Partnership Development Office and the NCI Office of Scientific Operations. By hosting it at the FNL, they recognized the opportunity to partner with the economic development offices of the City and County of Frederick and the Technology Development Corporation of Maryland (TEDCO) to leverage their regional knowledge, resources, relationships, and expertise. The organizations agreed on goals and entered into a co-sponsorship agreement.

The Technology Showcase – now going on its 5th year – centers around NCI and FNL researchers who made business pitches for their technologies to an audience of potential industry collaborators and licensees – in contrast to traditional presentations to a purely scientific audience. In addition, representatives from the NCI Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program – composed of post-doctoral scientists seeking unique professional/career education opportunities – develop and present posters highlighting the commercialization potential of additional NIH technologies. In 2020, the event organizers pivoted their efforts to deliver a virtual event that successfully provided interested parties an opportunity to participate regardless of location. The awareness and outreach provided by the annual Technology Showcase means that stakeholders understand they can turn to NCI and FNL when looking for a subject matter expert for collaboration to overcome a technology hurdle. Importantly, the effort serves to increase the likelihood that potentially life-saving cancer inventions may be developed and have a positive impact for patients.

Award Recipients:
NCI TTC:
Michele Newton, Laura Prestia, Ph.D., Michael Salgaller, Ph.D. and Thomas Stackhouse, Ph.D.
FNL:
Victoria Brun, Maryellen Hackett, Vladimir Popov, Ph.D., Maggie Scully, Ph.D.
NCI Frederick Office of Scientific Operations:
Walter Hubert, Ph.D.
Frederick County Department of Economic Development
Heather Gramm, Helen Propheter
Frederick City Department of Economic Development
Mary Ford-Naill, Richard Griffin

TTC-Hosted Technology Webinar Featured Novel Polymeric Drug Delivery Platform

January 28, 2021

TTC hosted a complimentary technology webinar on January 27 from 11:00 am - noon. Dr. Stephan T. Stern of the NCI Nanotechnology Laboratory located at the Frederick National Laboratory discussed his invention: "A Novel Lymphatic/Brain Targeting Macromolecular Prodrug System". 

ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY

The invention is a novel polymeric drug delivery platform that targets the lymphatic system and brain through scavenger receptor A1 (SR-A1) mediated transcytosis. The SR-A1 receptor is highly expressed in macrophages, monocytes, mast cells, and dendritic cells (myeloid lineages), and also endothelial cells.
This platform and lymphatic-targeting polymeric drug delivery system:

  • Can deliver various therapeutic/diagnostic imaging cargo to the brain, as well as to the lymphatic system and myeloid/antigen presenting cell (APC) sub-populations for treatment of various disease states or for tracking response to therapy.
  • Is particularly well suited for delivery of immunomodulatory drugs and delivering cancer therapeutics to the lymphatic environment that metastatic cancer cells use to spread to other parts of the body, including the brain.
  • Can enable prognostics for the lymphatic spread of metastatic cancers and evaluating treatment response

 If you are interested in learning more about this technology, please contact: Joseph.Conrad@nih.gov.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fellowship Opportunities at TTC

December 3, 2020

The TTC has fellowship opportunities available. A fellowship with TTC provides an opportunity for qualified candidates to apply a science, legal or business background to a career in technology transfer. Experience gained through the fellowship can create a new competency, preparing fellows for technology transfer positions within academia, industry, or the federal government. Learn more, including how to apply:  https://techtransfer.cancer.gov/aboutttc/jointtc

2020 Technology Showcase Highlights NCI and FNL Technologies to Expanded Audience

September 14, 2020

The 2020 Technology Showcase welcomed more than 400 viewers to a half day event to encourage collaboration and licensing of inventions from the NCI and the Frederick National Laboratory (FNL). The pivot to a virtual format presented an opportunity to expand to a new audience. Attendees logged in from all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Brazil, Malaysia, and China.

In addition to presentations by six NCI and three FNL inventors, the 2020 Technology Showcase included keynote presentations by Maryland Commerce Secretary, Kelly Schultz and Kite Pharma Senior Director Supply Chain, Howard Bland. There were also four educational panels given by moderators and panelists from investment firms, industry, nonprofits, and various government laboratories and agencies. In addition, representatives from the NCI Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program presented posters highlighting the commercialization potential of additional NIH technologies.

In its fourth year, the Technology Showcase remains the only NCI event focused on attracting and informing industry licensees and partners. TTC’s Invention Development and Marketing Unit (IDMU) spearheads the planning of the annual event along with co-sponsors from the FNL, the Frederick County Office of Economic Development, the City of Frederick Department of Economic Development and TEDCO. Planning for a hybrid in-person / virtual event for 2021 is underway. A list of featured technologies, panel sessions and speakers featured can be found at: 2020 Technology Showcase .

Licensing/Co-development Opportunity in T Cell Therapeutic for ALL

July 24, 2020

The National Cancer Institute seeks scientific and commercial development of an autologous CD22 CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). A  Breakthrough Therapy Designation was received from the FDA based on observed responses in fifty-eight patients in a Phase I clinical trial sponsored by NCI. Details of the partnering arrangements can be reviewed on the NCI TTC web site. Statements of capability and interest from prospective parties interested in in-licensing or participating in co-development research should contact Jim Knabb, Ph.D., Senior Technology Transfer Manager, NCI TTC, knabbjr@nih.gov.

 

2020 Technology Showcase to Go Virtual, September 9

July 2, 2020

The 4th Annual Technology Showcase is going virtual and will take place on September 9, 2020. The virtual event will feature a keynote address from Kite Pharma, panel sessions focused on technology commercialization and technology pitches from NCI and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research scientists.  To learn more, visit 2020 Technology Showcase.

NCI Wins Federal Laboratory Consortium Tech Transfer Awards

February 19, 2020

Two National Cancer Institute projects have been recognized with national awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC). The winners will be recognized at the group’s National Meeting in Portland Oregon April 28-30. The FLC is a Congressionally mandated organization that educates, promotes, and facilitates federal technology transfer. Learn more about NCI’s awards below:

Award 1: “New, First-in-class Immunotherapy, for Treatment of Recurrent, Metastatic Cervical Cancer”
Winner of 2020 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award

This award recognizes employees of FLC member laboratories and non-laboratory staff who have accomplished outstanding work in the process of transferring federally developed technology.

Early in his career Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., observed a patient with terminal cancer whose disease spontaneously disappeared and theorized it had something to do with the patient’s immune system. He and other researchers pursued this hypothesis for decades despite a skeptical scientific community. Today, Rosenberg’s pioneering research in cancer immunotherapy and individually designed “personalized” medicine is at the forefront of innovation, providing hope and cures for cancer patients who have exhausted all other treatments.

In 2011, NCI and Iovance Biotherapeutics entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) for the development of adoptive cell therapy (ACT) using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). Technology licenses between NCI and Iovance were established to grant Iovance rights to the NIH’s TIL patent estate. Currently Iovance is conducting two pivotal multi-center trials of TIL technology in advanced cervical cancer and metastatic melanoma. In May 2019 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) gave the technology a Breakthrough Therapy designation for advanced cervical cancer for patients who have exhausted all other treatment options. 

Successes like the NCI-Iovance collaboration spur increases in medical research spending and investment. In June 2019, Iovance began construction of a 136,000 square foot TIL manufacturing plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with capacity to meet demand for thousands of patients in multiple cancers. The next-generation facility aims to scale up TIL manufacturing and reduce the time and cost to produce the cells, which has been a major barrier for this type of treatment. The fact that immunotherapy treatments have the potential to provide cancer patients with improved quality of life with fewer, less severe side-effects will continue to attract investment and increase the development of new, lifesaving medical technologies.

NCI, Iovance and its collaborators now have now initiated additional TIL trials in other solid tumors. This effective partnership has transferred an unprecedented immunotherapy treatment from a federal lab to the private sector advanced it to late-stage clinical development. The innovative treatment has the potential to help thousands of patients a year with deadly and previously untreatable forms of cancer.

Winners:
NCI Scientific Team
Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., chief, NCI Surgery Branch
Christian Hinrichs, M.D., Investigator, NCI Experimental Transplantation and Immunotherapy Branch

NCI TTC
Aida Cremesti, Ph.D., Senior Technology Transfer Manager (TTM), NCI TTC
Andrew Burke, Ph.D., TTM, NCI TTC

Iovance Biotherapeutics
Maria Fardis, Ph.D. MBA, CEO, Iovance

Award 2: “NCI Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program: Innovative Internal and External Engagement”
Winner of 2020 Technology Transfer Innovation Award

This award recognizes federal laboratories that successfully implemented innovative or unconventional technology transfer approaches that resulted in a significant increase in technology transfer (T2) activities. This is a new FLC award category.

In September 2016, to better engage and educate the scientific community, the NCI TTC launched the first federal Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program (TTAP). The program has significantly impacted technology transfer efforts across the NCI and is now being offered and adopted across the NIH.

The TTAP is the first formal technology transfer training and mentoring program open to NIH post-doctoral scientists (post-docs) seeking professional development in invention analysis, commercialization, and entrepreneurship. The one-year program augments each post-doc’s current research activities and boosts the impact on the technology transfer environment at NIH.

While TTAP has received positive feedback and results since first implemented in 2016, TTAP’s strength directly stems from efforts to continuously enhance the program. In 2019, program leads included a new “Technology Transfer Boot Camp,” a series of intensive hands-on training sessions to equip post-doc participants with skills immediately applicable to their training while they worked directly with TTC managers. Additionally, the leads developed a “Perfecting Your Pitch” workshop and “Pitch Practice” sessions for post-doc participants to learn how to effectively communicate the value propositions of technologies to business audiences. Since participating in TTAP, several post-doc participants have transitioned their careers into technology transfer and many other related professions.

TTAP has and continues to strive toward creating a lab-to-market mindset across NIH Institutes.  In some labs, a paradigm shift has investigators focusing research efforts on outcomes with more of an eye to commercialization. The result is a more entrepreneurial culture, stronger connections between technology transfer and the scientific community, and enhanced efficiency of NIH technology transfer efforts for commercialization.

Successful outcomes include multiple invention disclosures and transactional agreements initiated by post-doc participants, dozens of analyses and presentations informing NIH patent investment decisions, improved marketing campaigns for NIH technologies, and an increase in creative TT engagement with scientists.

Winners: Technology Transfer Ambassador Team Leads, NCI TTC:
Laura Prestia, Ph.D., Communications & Strategic Initiatives Manager
Rose Freel Ph.D., Senior Technology Transfer Manager (TTM)
Taryn Dick Ph.D., M.B.A., TTM
Abritee Dhal Ph.D., TTM

More information about TTAP can be found at: https://techtransfer.cancer.gov/aboutttc/ambassadors

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