In 1998 FDA approved 6 new drugs licensed from NIH

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

This from Greg Aharonian's Internet Patent News Service.  Last year the
FDA approved 6 new drugs that private firms licensed from the NIH.
jamie


!19990531 
Greg Aharonian
Internet Patent News Service
[snip]
                              ====================

    -- NIH TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER LIST AND 1998 APPROVED DRUGS

The Office of Technology Transfer at the National Institutes of Health
is initiating an email service to provide brief descriptions of NIH
technologies available for licensing.  On a regular basis, OTT plans to
send technical briefs to those technology professionals who wish to be
notified.  These mailings will feature new technologies as well as
selected older inventions.  To subscribe, email the following information
to Dr. George Keller at the NIH (gk40j@nih.gov):
  email address, name, title, company, mailing address,phone number, fax

                                       ==

In 1998, the Food and Drug Administration approved six drugs for commercial
sales that were originally licensed from the National Institutes of Health.
Since the FDA doesn't approve many new drugs each year, this is a worthy
accomplishment.  The drugs were:

    Synagis (non-exclusively licensed to Medimmune from NIAID)
    - a monoclonal antibody used for the prevention and treatment of
      serious lower respiratory tract disease by respiratory syncytial
      virus(RSV).  RSV is the most common cause of pneumonia and
      bronchiolitis in infancy and early childhood.  Synagis is the
      world's first monoclonal antibody licensed by the FDA for any
      infectious disease.

    Certiva (exclusively licensed to North American Vaccine from NICHD)
    - a combined diphtheria, tetanus and accellular pertussis vaccine
      for use in infants and children.  A special process that reduces
      local and systemic adverse events commonly associated with
      traditional whole-cell PDT vaccine administration has detoxified
      the acellular pertussis component of this vaccine.  Certiva is
      the first pediatric vaccine introduced into the US market by a
      new independent vaccine producer in over ten years.

    Vitravene (non-exclusively licensed to Isis Pharmaceuticals from NCI)
    - a phosphorothioate oligonucleotide that inhibits cytomegalovirus
      (CMV) infections in the eye.  Such infections more commonly occur
      in immunocompromised patients with resultant damage to the retina.
      Vitravene is the first antisense therapeutic approved for use in
      humans.

    RotaShield (exclusively licensed to Wyeth Laboratories from NIAID)
    - a live oral vaccine for the prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis
      in infants.  Rotavirus is the single most important case of
      epidemic severe cute gastroenteritis (diarrhea and vomiting) in
      infants and young children in both developed and developing
      countries.  RotaShield is the first rotavirus vaccine approved for
      use in humans.

    AcuTect (exclusively licensed to Diatide from NIDCR)
    - a synthetic peptide radiopharmaceutical used for the detection of
      acute deep venous thrombosis (DVT).  DVT affects an estimated
      5 million individuals in the US each year and is the most common
      source of pulmonary embolism.  AcuTect is the first in-vivo
      imaging agent to target acute DVT in the lower extermities.

    Thyrogen (exclusively licensed to Genzyme from NIDDK)
    - a recombinant form of human thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) for
      use in follow-up screening of patients who have been treated for
      thyroid cancer.  Thyrogen permits these patients to avoid the
      debilitating effects of thyroid hormone withdrawal while
      undergoing standard diagnostic procedures such as serum
      thyroglobulin testing and radioiodine imaging.



                              ====================

[snip]



-------------------------------
James Love 
Center for Study of Responsive Law | Consumer Project on Technology 
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 | http://www.cptech.org
Voice 202/387-8030 | Fax 202/234-5176 | love@cptech.org