Submitted in early August 1997 by NIH for publication in the Federal Register
    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
    National Institutes of Health

    Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Biomedical uses of topoisomerase I inhibitors including camptothecin and derivatives for retroviral applications including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

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

    ACTION: Notice

    SUMMARY: This is notice in accordance with 15 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 patents and patent applications referred to below to Virologix Corporation of New York, New York. The patent rights in these inventions have been assigned to the government of the United States of America. The patents and patent applications to be licensed are:
    "METHOD OF TREATING RETROVIRAL INFECTIONS IN MAMMALS"
    U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 07/520,456, filed May 8, 1990, which issued on June 6, 1995 as U.S. Patent No. 5,422,344; and
    U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/397,936, filed March 3, 1995, which issued on April 22, 1997 as U.S. Patent No. 5,622,959.

    DATE: Only written comments and/or applications for a license which are received by NIH on or before [Insert date 60 days from date of publication of notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER] will be considered.

    ADDRESS: Requests for a copy of these patents, 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 a method of treating retroviral infections in mammals via the use of an effective amount of topoisomerase I inhibitor such as camptothecin (CPT) and similar compounds which act as inhibitors of retroviral topoisomerase I, blocking both the initiation of retroviral infection and replication in target cells. As a consequence of this mechanism of action, use of such inhibitors provides a potential means of reducing or eliminating retroviral