A -- Development and Commercialization of Agents for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Tumors Expressing EPO Receptor

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) seeks a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) Collaborator to work with NINDS in the development, manufacture and commercialization of agents for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors expressing EPO receptor (EPOR). Of particular interest are agents useful in diagnosis or treatment of multiple tumors in different organs in patients with von Hippel-Landau (VHL) disease, sporadic kidney tumors and kidney tumors in dialysis patients. NINDS is seeking a development and commercialization partner for identification of agents that act as antagonist to EPO, especially ligands that bind EPOR but do not activate the receptor. Potential Areas of Application - Treatment and diagnosis of multiple tumors in different organs in patients with von Hippel- Landau patients - Treatment and diagnosis of renal tumors in sporadic and kidney dialysis patients - Treatment and diagnosis of pheochromocytomas in sporadic and hypertension patients - Treatment and diagnosis of eye and CNS hemangioblastomas Main Advantages of Technology/Invention: - We have found co-expression of EPO and EPOR in tumors of VHL patients. The co-expression of the ligand and receptor are related to the tumor growth and progression. Since the co-expression of EPO and EPOR are not present in most normal adult tissues, ligands that bind to EPOR but not activate the receptor can target specific tumor cells with minimal detrimental effect on normal cells. - Since co-expression of EPO and EPOR is only transiently present in early embryo cells, detection of the co-expression of these proteins in tumor cells can be used for diagnosis of specific tumor cells. Current State of Development - In vitro studies of tumor cell samples from a variety of tumors from von Hippel-Landau patients indicate that expression of EPOR is upregulated in these tumor cells. - Some of the tumor cell lines such as a kidney tumor cell line have been developed. Other tumor cell lines such as hemangioblastoma cell line from VHL patient can be cultured in the presence of EPO in the culture media. These cell lines can be used to test the effect of EPO agonist and antagonist on their growth. Further R&D Required: - Identify ligands that bind to EPOR but do not activate receptor - Screen ligands for activity in vitro or in vivo - Plan for clinical trials to determine usefulness of ligands in diagnosing and/or treating tumors Patent Status: - Patent pending - Licensing of technology available Contact Information: Martha T. Lubet Ph.D. NINDS Technology Transfer by TTB/ NCI Phone:+1 (555) 000-0000 E-mail contact@example.gov