| Novel Inhibitors of Interleukin-6 for Kaposi Sarcoma Therapy |
The cancer therapy market is forecast to reach $40.9 billion by 2012. With immunosuppressant drugs set for phenomenal growth over the next six years, revenues could reach $26.2 billion by 2014. One market for which there is a significant need for new therapies is cancers induced by Kaposi Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV).
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute have identified novel nucleic acid sequences that act through a unique mechanism to inhibit the expression of interle... More...
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| Prediction of Immune Response Outcomes to Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) Treatment |
Keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) is a large, heterogeneous glycosylated protein that is being tested as an immunotherapeutic agent to treat bladder cancer. KLH is approved for use in parts of Europe and Asia and is in late stage clinical trials in the U.S. KLH immunotherapy however only produces a clinical response in approximately 40-50% of patients, and currently there is no good method to select the subset of patients that will respond best to this treatment. This invention revealed that leve... More...
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| Live-Attenuated Tularemia Vaccine |
The invention provides compositions and methods of use for a modified strain of Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia, a category A biodefense agent (NIAID classification). Currently, no vaccines are available, and the only approved therapeutics for tularemia are antibiotics that are only effective if delivered early in the infection. The subject invention defines and characterizes mutations in Francisella tularensis that result in attenuated bacteria capable of ... More...
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| Improved Targeting Precision of Radiotherapy |
The technology offered for licensing is in the field of radiotherapy. The invention provides for improvement in the targeting precision of 4D Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (4D IGRT). It relates to new methods for (1) predicting the dynamic tidal volume of a patient and (2) predicting the motion of the diaphragm and points of interest near the diaphragm, by monitoring the external volume change of a patient's torso, thereby improving the time-resolved computed tomography (4DCT) and motion-compen... More...
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| Simpler is Better: The Production of Young Cell Cultures from Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) Yields More Effective Adoptive Cell Transfer (ACT) Immunotherapies |
Available for licensing is an improved method of adoptive cell transfer (ACT) immunotherapy that can be utilized to treat a variety of infectious diseases and cancers, most notably melanoma.
At its foundation, ACT involves isolating lymphocytes with high affinity for a particular antigen, expanding those cells in vitro to produce a greater quantity of reactive cells, and infusing the product cells into patients to attack cells expressing the antigen, such as tumor cells, bacteria... More...
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| Treating Cancer with Anti-Angiogenic Chimeric Antigen Receptors |
Metastasis, the growth and spread of cancer from a localized tumor to other sites in the body, is promoted by the formation of new blood vessels through angiogenesis to "feed" the tumor. There is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic strategies that combine fewer side-effects and more specific anti-tumor activity in order to block cancer metastasis in patients. Adoptive immunotherapy is a promising new approach to cancer treatment that engineers an individual's innate and adaptive immune s... More...
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| A Method of Identifying Cdk5/p35 Modulators, and Possible Diagnostic or Therapeutic Uses for Neurodegenerative Diseases |
Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a serine/threonine cyclin-dependent kinase that is highly expressed in the central nervous system and controls many biological processes that impact learning and memory, as well as pain and drug addiction. Studies have indicated that abnormal Cdk5 activity may be associated with the onset of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The kinase activity of Cdk5 is turned on when it bin... More...
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| A Phantom for Diffusion MRI: A Method of Enhancing Performance and Reliability |
The technology offered for licensing is in the field of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Diffusion MRI). Specifically, a novel imaging phantom is described and claimed. Such a phantom is specifically optimized for Diffusion MRI and is expected to enhance the performance and reliability of this now widespread imaging technology.
The phantom provided in this invention comprises a stable aqueous solution with a concentration of at least 30%, by weight, of a mixture of a high molecula... More...
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| Immunotoxin Useful for Treatment of AIDS |
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) attacks and destroys T cells, leading to the development of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in patients. Although significant progress has been made treating patients with AIDS, an effective cure has yet to be identified. For example, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has shown dramatic reduction of viral replication while allowing recovery of the immune system in HIV patients. However, HAART does not directly kill HIV-infected T cells, ... More...
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| Optimized Expression of IL-12 Cytokine Family |
The IL-12 family of cytokines (IL-12, IL-23, and IL-27) has an important role in inflammation and autoimmune diseases. IL-12 is produced by macrophages and dendritic cells in response to certain bacterial and parasitic infections and is a powerful inducer of IFN-gamma production. IL-23 is proposed to stimulate a subset of T cells to produce IL-17, which in turn induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines that lead to a protective response during infection. IL-27 appears to have duel fun... More...
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| A Novel Multimeric CD4 Fusion Protein for Treating HIV Infection |
This invention could potentially provide an alternative to antiretroviral therapy (ART), especially in cases where productively-infected cells persist with ART. This multimeric CD4 fusion protein acts as a decoy to inhibit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) entry into host cells. More specifically, this multimeric CD4 inhibits the interaction between HIV-1 gp120 and CD4 present on the surface of CD4 T-cells, the major HIV-1 target cell. There is strong evidence that binding between gp120, as ... More...
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