Intellectual Property Office

Non-Confidential Disclosures

"Novel Treatment of Asthma and Allergies"

PSU Inv. Disc. No 2002-2676

Field of the Invention:

Allergies and Asthma – Human Pharmaceuticals

Inventors:

M.T. Cantorna, A. August, J.P. Vanden Heuvel

Patent status:

U.S. Patent Application Filed 10/01/03 (Serial No. 10/674,395)

Background:

Allergies reflect an overreaction of the immune system to substances that usually cause no reaction in most individuals. The symptoms include itching, sneezing, wheezing, and coughing. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways.

Invention description:

The subject invention represents a method of treatment of asthma and allergies, which utilizes a class of compounds currently approved for human clinical use. Experiments have been conducted using mice, which were ultimately sacrificed and their lungs evaluated using histopathological score. See the attached non-confidential tables, which are scored blindly on a scale of 0 to 3 for inflammation and 0 to 3 for epithelial thickening. Table A. Asthma severity is less in treated mice.

Contact:

Mr. Matthew Smith
Sr. Technology Licensing Officer
Intellectual Property Office
113 Technology Center
The Pennsylvania State Univ.
University Park, PA 16802-7000
Phone: (814) 863-1122
Fax: (814) 865-3591
E-mail: mds126@psu.edu