Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Therapeutic Uses of Blood Vessel Growth Promoting Peptides Including Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) for Cardiovascular Disease and Conditions Such as Myocardial Ischemia

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Therapeutic Uses of Blood

Vessel Growth Promoting Peptides Including Vascular Endothelial Growth

Factor (VEGF) and Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) for

Cardiovascular Disease and Conditions Such as Myocardial Ischemia

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

a domestic exclusive license to practice the inventions embodied in the

patent referred to below to Collateral Therapeutics of San Diego,

California. The patent rights in these inventions have been assigned to

the government of the United States of America. The patent to be

licensed is: ``Method To Foster Myocardial Blood Vessel Growth And

Improve Blood Flow To The Heart'', U.S. Patent Application Serial No.

07/799,830 filed November 27, 1991, which issued as U.S. Patent No.

5,244,460 on September 14, 1993.

DATES: Only written comments and/or applications for a license which

are received by NIH on or before February 9, 1998 will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of this patent, inquiries, comments, and

other materials relating to the contemplated license should be directed

to: J. Peter Kim, Technology Licensing Specialist, Office of Technology

Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard,

Suite 325, Rockville, Maryland 20852-3804; Telephone: (301) 496-7056,

ext. 264; Facsimile: (301) 402-0220.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The present invention relates to

improvements in the treatment of diseases, and more particularly to

procedures and compositions used to foster myocardial blood vessel

growth and improve blood flow to the heart. The present invention

provides a method for facilitating in a damaged heart or a heart in

need of improved circulation the growth of cardiac blood vessels while

reducing the risk of undesired vascularization in other areas of the

body. The method comprises: (a) Inserting a catheter into a coronary

artery and providing an infusion port accessible to the administration

of coronary drug injections; (b) injecting an effective amount of a

blood vessel growth promoting peptide into the heart; and (c)

periodically repeating such injection on subsequent days until improved

cardiac blood flow has been obtained. The subject invention may be

applied to treating cardiovascular disease and conditions including

myocardial ischemia and atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. Such

a therapy can potentially be used to partially or completely replace

blocked coronary arteries with new blood vessels without affecting the

degree of vascularity in the area of the body.

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 sixty

(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

Applications for a license filed in response to this notice will be

treated as objections to the grant of the contemplated license.

Comments and objections submitted in response to this notice will not

be made available for public inspection, and, to the extent permitted

by law, will not be released under the Freedom of Information Act, 5

U.S.C. 552. Copies of the subject issued patent are available upon

request.

Dated: December 1, 1997.

Barbara M. McGarey,

Deputy Director, Office of Technology Transfer.

[FR Doc. 97-32088 Filed 12-8-97; 8:45 am]

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