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The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been recognized by the FLC for their impact on the public through their technology transfer work. On February 21, 2020 NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) started an Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT) to test Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir, in a phase 3 trial. Remdesivir is an inhibitor of the viral RNA polymerase, so it became an early therapeutic candidate for COVID-19. This was the first clinical trial in the U.S. for an experimental treatment for COVID-19.

Originally established to study influenza, a partnership between NIAID and biotechnology company AbCellera quickly pivoted to become a major player in the development of antibodybased COVID-19 therapies. One of those therapies, bamlanivimab, has been authorized to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms in patients who are at risk for more severe disease, when combined with another antibody.

The Licensing Executives Society (LES) has recognized with its “Deals of Distinction” Award licenses granted by the NIH intramural research program to uniCure N.V. based in Amsterdam along with its global partner CSL Behring.   As a result of these licenses on November 22, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Hemgenix®, the world’s first gene therapy for hemophilia B.  It represents an historic achievement based on more than a two decades of research and clinical development through a government /industry partnership and license agreements.

For the development of gene therapy as a clinically useful procedure for training genetic diseases.

Awardee

National Human Genome Research Institute 

• Dr. R. Michael Blaese

Thus far the progress in our fight against cancer has come at a heavy price in the form of devastating side effects. While they are meant to kill cancer cells, most cancer drugs also destroy normal tissues. Mucositis (painful sores and ulcers in the lining of the mouth) is a common complication of chemotherapy and/ or radiation, affecting approximately 80% of patients who undergo this intensive treatment prior to bone marrow transplantation.

Cancer is the second largest cause of mortality in the U.S., but researchers have made tremendous progress in developing new and effective treatments to reduce these mortalities. The National Cancer Institute’s 2015 challenge goal is to turn cancer from a killer into a chronic disease in the next ten years. Thus far, progress in the fight against cancer has come at a heavy price in the form of devastating side effects. While meant to kill cancer cells, most cancer drugs also destroy normal tissue. 

The researchers have developed a group of compounds useful in treating a wide variety of diseases, many of which are chronic and painful for those afflicted. These compounds, known as adenosine A3 receptor agonists, are small molecules that bind to adenosine A3 receptor and induce their biological activity. The adenosine A3 receptors are embedded in cell surfaces and are important for communicating the need for a cell to initiate activity in response to adenosine detected outside the cell. Adenosine is important in the body’s response to chronic or acute tissue stress or cell damage.

“Intellectual property (IP) development and the licensing of IP is an essential component of innovation in our knowledge-based economy. Each year, major IP deals between companies help drive innovation and ensure that new products continue to reach businesses and consumers.” The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is pleased to announce that it has received the “Deals of Distinction Award™” along with Hope Pharmaceuticals and Aires Pharmaceuticals from the Licensing Executive Society (LES).

Abnormal T lymphocyte (T cell) function, including tumor formation in T cells, can lead to a wide variety of diseases. Over 100 million people worldwide suffer from T cell autoimmune disorders of varying severity, such as lupus and graft-versus-host disease, and the incidence of T cell-mediated cancers, including lymphomas and leukemias, has risen over the past decade. These diseases can be deadly, and not all patients respond to standard therapies.

The term “cancer” is used to describe a collection of several diseases that are caused by the aberrant growth of cells and the invasion of these cells into other tissues, where they disrupt normal organ function. Cancers are commonly treated by surgical removal of the cancerous tissue, followed by a regimen of conventional chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Unfortunately, these conventional therapies lack specificity for cancer cells, leading to undesirable side effects that result from the non-specific killing of essential normal cells.