The Moonshot Redux
FedInvent Patent Newsletter for Patents Granted February 1, 2022
Updated February 6, 2022, to fix broken links.
Hello from FedInvent,
On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, the US Patent and Trademarks Office issued 7,200 new patents. One hundred and sixty-six (166) benefitted from taxpayer funding. FedInvent has identified 590 patents with taxpayer funding so far this year, about 2% of the total number of US patents.
First, the FedInvent Report and the data. Here is the link to the FedInvent Report for patents issued on February 1, 2022. If you prefer to browse by department, start here.
UPDATED LINKS…
The Cancer Moonshot Is Back
On February 2, 2022, President Biden announced a restart of the Cancer Moonshot. The announcement highlights the program's new goals:
To reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years.
Improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer.
End cancer as we know it today.
There are new technologies that are advancing the fight against cancer. Among them are treatments that target specific mutations; immunotherapies are making a big difference in certain skin cancers, blood cancers, and others; and cancer vaccines – like the HPV vaccine –which prevents the cause of up to seven kinds of cancer. The day before the Biden Administrations Cancer Moon Shot, NIH reported an experimental form of immunotherapy that uses an individual's own tumor-fighting immune cells to treat people with metastatic breast cancer. These results are from an ongoing clinical trial led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Center for Cancer Research.
National Cancer Institute
For the first five weeks of 2022, NCI has already accumulated 60 new patents and the publication of 77 pre-grant patent applications. In 2021, NCI was the research funding source for over 700 patents. NCI has a significant amount of intellectual property. This week NCI was cited as a funding source on 21 patents. Inventors from Duke received US Patent 11235043, "Vaccines Against Antigens Involved In Therapy Resistance and Methods of Using Same." This patent deals with one of the challenges of treating cancer, reducing the likelihood of cancer or precancer developing resistance to a cancer therapeutic or prevention agent.
Stop The Viruses and Stop The Cancer
NCI's portfolio only tells part of the cancer story. There is significant work at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to find anti-virals and vaccinations for viruses that cause or exacerbate susceptibility to certain types of cancer. Controlling the proliferation of viruses is also a component of ending cancer as we know it. Infectious pathogens directly cause some cancers — Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer. The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is one of the nine known human herpesvirus types. It is one of the most common viruses in humans. EBV is best known as the cause of infectious mononucleosis, the bane of college-age young adults. EBV is linked to Hodgkin lymphoma. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) can cause liver cancer. HBV/HCV co-infection can lead to more severe liver disease and an increased risk for progression to liver cancer.
People with HIV often get three types of cancer: Kaposi's Sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cervical cancer (in women). These AIDS-related cancers occur more often in people with HIV/AIDS weakened immune systems.
NIAID has racked up 48 new patents where it funded research in 2022. A significant portion of its patent portfolio deals with novel inventions dealing with the types of viruses that cause cancer. This week NIAID received seven patents, including patents focused on an HIV vaccine and HCV detection and treatment.
The Money
Cancer R&D costs a lot of money for research and development. Cancer costs even more to treat.
The Fiscal Year 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act and the 21st Century Cures Act allocated $6.56 billion to NCI, a $119 million increase over the regular and Cancer Moonshot appropriations allocated in FY 2020. NCI's 2022 budget request is over $7.7 billion. The NCI budget proposal calls for 2023 is $7.766 which includes $216 billion for the reincarnated Moonshot. Here’s the breakdown:
The NIH 2022 budget request is approximately $51.96 billion.
According to Statistica, in 2020, global oncology spending totaled $167 billion. In comparison, costs stood at $74 billion six years earlier.
National costs for cancer care were estimated to be $208.9 billion in 2020. These cost estimates include cancer-attributable costs for medical services and oral prescription drugs. One of the compelling issues to advance the delivery of new cancer treatments is addressing pressing issues on the cost of new cancer drugs and treatments (and drug costs associated with other diseases.).
Currently, the government is operating on a continuing resolution (CR), with funding running out on February 18, 2022. NCI and the rest of the government is still operating at the funding level in its 2021 budget. The continuing resolution, HR 6119, excludes funds for the Cancer Moonshot.
President Biden proposed a new vehicle for biomedical and health research, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). President's FY2022 budget for ARPA-H as a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requested a funding level of $6.5B available for three years. ARPA-H will build high-risk, high-reward capabilities (or platforms) to drive biomedical breakthroughs to improve our ability to prevent, detect, and treat a range of diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and many others. The crystal ball readers on Capitol Hill seem to think that there will be another CR before Congress authorizes funding at the 2022 level. As long as the government is working under a CR, no new federal programs can be funded. So, for now, ARPA-H has no money.
The Cancer Cabinet
Part of the newly reinvigorated Cancer Moon Shot is the creation of the Cancer Cabinet. (There is never a big government program that doesn't involve a new governing organization.) The Cancer Cabinet membership includes a who's who of federal entities:
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of Defense (DOD)
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
Domestic Policy Council (DPC)
Gender Policy Council (GPC)
Office of the First Lady (OFL)
Office of the Vice President (OVP)
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA)
Office of Public Engagement (OPE)
The Moonshot also appears to be going big on bureaucracy. The Cancer Cabinet looks like a forum for lots of meetings and speeches. The Cancer Moon Shot scientific community will also host a summit. Time will tell if these new entities advance research and delivery of new therapeutics, earlier detection and testing, and vaccines that can prevent cancer in the first case.
It's All About The Execution
Advancing new technologies and treatments for cancer touches every American. Most people will support programs to help end the scourge of cancer. Execution is critical.
On to today's numbers.
Patents By The Numbers
On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, the US Patent and Trademarks Office issued 7,200 new patents. One hundred and sixty-six (166) benefitted from taxpayer funding.
One hundred fifty-six (156) patents have Government Interest Statements.
Thirty (30) have a government agency as an applicant or an assignee.
A federal department is the only assignee on seventeen (17) patents.
The 166 new patents have 191 department-level funding citations.
These patents are the work of 572 inventors.
The 544 American inventors come from 39 states and the District of Columbia.
The 28 foreign inventors come from nine (9) countries.
There are 91 patents (55%) where at least one assignee is a college or university, the HERD.
Three patents (3) resulted from the collaboration between two universities.
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) received seven (7) patents.
Seven (7) patents were assigned Y CPC symbols indicating that the invention may be useful in mitigating the impact of climate change.
The Big Three States — Win, Place, and Show
The usual suspects are in the Win and Place positions. This week's patent Show position goes to Florida.
California has 31 first-named inventors and 114 total inventors.
Massachusetts has 21 first-named inventors and 62 total inventors.
Maryland has 14 first-named inventors and 57 total inventors.
Patent Count By Department
Count By Technology Center
The Health Complex
The table below shows this week's count of the number of funding citations where the recipient cites the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the institutes at the National Institutes of Health, and other subagencies that are part of HHS, the Health Complex.
The Health Complex Year-To-Date
The table below is the year-to-date count for entities FedInvent classifies as part of the Health Complex.
Bayh-Dole Scofflaws
There are four Bayh-Dole scofflaws this week. Two of the patents went to Raytheon.
US Patent 11237117 went to BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. (BWXT NOG) specializes in designing and manufacturing components for the US government. BWXT NOG facilities in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Euclid, Ohio, design and supply components for US government programs. The Lynchburg facility is one of only two private U.S. facilities licensed to possess and process highly enriched uranium. BWXT's Lynchburg site is also home to BWXT NOG's Uranium Processing and Research Reactors group (UPRR), which is skilled in plate-type reactor design and fuel-assembly production, specialty fuels development, and production and uranium downblending applications. BWXT does work supporting the US Navy's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. It also works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The fourth patent, 11239853, went to Digital Analog Integration, Inc. The contract cited in the government interest statement maps to the Army Research Lab. It also maps to an ARL Cybersecurity Service Provider contract.
Before We Go
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Next up is Thursday’s newly published pre-grant patent applications.
As always, thank you for reading FedInvent.
The FedInvent Team
FedInvent tells the stories of inventors, investigators, and innovators. Wayfinder Digital's FedInvent Project follows the federal innovation ecosphere, taxpayer money, and the inventions it pays for. FedInvent is a work in progress. Please reach out if you have questions or suggestions. You can reach us at info@wayfinder.digital.