The invention of a method to stabilize coronavirus spike proteins received a last month from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the COVID-19 category.
The spike protein technology鈥攄eveloped through a research collaboration among 线上赌场鈥檚 , the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health), and Scripps Research Institute鈥攑roved crucial to the rapid development of vaccines against COVID-19. 线上赌场鈥檚 critical contribution was discovered by a team led by Jason McLellan, a structural biologist and former assistant professor at Geisel.
鈥淭his award demonstrates 线上赌场鈥檚 commitment not only to supporting groundbreaking research, but also to forging collaborations and transferring applications of that research to benefit the world,鈥 says , vice provost for entrepreneurship and technology transfer.
At the Feb. 16 awards ceremony, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Kathi Vidal praised the nation鈥檚 innovators for responding to the pandemic with 鈥渦nparalleled urgency鈥 and commended them for 鈥渢heir ingenuity, their dedication, and their hard work in coming up with creative solutions to the global challenge to benefit all of us.鈥
McLellan鈥檚 coronavirus research at 线上赌场 began in 2014, well before COVID-19鈥攁 response to a growing awareness of the risk of a coronavirus pandemic in the wake of earlier SARS and MERS outbreaks.
The researchers set out to understand the structure of the protein spikes that form the characteristic halo or crown around coronaviruses, and then to mutate those spikes to improve their stability. This work and the resulting NIAID, Scripps, and 线上赌场 patent are fundamental to most of the COVID-19 vaccines in use today. Through agreements among 线上赌场, Scripps and NIAID, the technology has been made broadly available through nonexclusive licenses to vaccine developers.
A NIAID-prepared acceptance video detailing the story behind the spike protein patent said the development of the technology 鈥渆xemplifies the significance of the basic research carried out in academic, governmental, and nonprofit laboratories. Such research is the basis for many important scientific innovations that are developed into products to benefit society.鈥
The Patents for Humanity contenders included innovators with U.S. patents or pending patent applications and were judged on the effectiveness of their invention to address COVID-19, as well as on the technology鈥檚 overall impact.
