Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Neuro-Derived Fetal Cell Lines for Transplantation Therapy

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24872-24873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-11424]



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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Neuro-Derived Fetal Cell 
Lines for Transplantation Therapy

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is notice in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(c)(1) and 37 
CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i) that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
Department of Health and Human Services, is contemplating the grant of 
an exclusive world-wide license to practice the inventions embodied in 
U.S. Patent 4,707,448, entitled ``Immortal Line of Human Fetal Glial 
Cells,'' U.S. Patent Application SN 08/046,527 entitled ``Use of Neuro-
Derived Fetal Cell Line for Transplantation Therapy'' and corresponding 
foreign patent applications to Pro-Virus, Inc. of Rockville, Maryland. 
The patent rights in these inventions have been assigned to the United 
States of America.
    The prospective exclusive license will be royalty-bearing and will 
comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. 
The prospective exclusive license may be granted unless within 60 days 
from the date of this published notice, NIH receives written evidence 
and argument that establishes that the grant of the license would not 
be consistent with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.
    The patent discloses a novel immortalized fetal glial cell line, 
designated SVG. The pending patent application discloses the methods of 
using such cell lines or genetically modified clones thereof for 
therapeutic purposes to treat various neurological diseases and 
disorders via transplantation of the cell lines into the patient. Cell 
lines, such as SVG, have the advantage of being a continually renewable 
resource and relatively homogenous. Additionally, such cell lines 
eliminate the significant safety concerns associated with primary human 
fetal tissue transplants that may harbor opportunistic disease-causing 
agents and may be subjected to a battery of tests to ensure their 
safety and efficacy before being used in transplantation.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the patent and the patent 
applications, inquiries, comments and other materials relating to the 
contemplated licenses should be directed to: Mr. Arthur J. Cohn, Esq., 
Technology Licensing Specialist, Office of Technology Transfer, 
National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, 
Rockville, Maryland 20892-3804. Telephone: (301) 496-7735 ext 284; 
Facsimile: (301) 402-0220. A signed Confidentiality Agreement will be 
required to receive copies of the patent applications. Applications for 
a license in the field of use filed in response to this notice will be 
treated as objections to the grant of the contemplated 
[[Page 24873]] licenses. Only written comments and/or applications for 
a license which are received by NIH on or before July 10, 1995 will be 
considered.

    Dated: April 26, 1995.
Maria C. Freire,
Director, Office of Technology Transfer.
[FR Doc. 95-11424 Filed 5-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P