On August 28, 2023, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) provided comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) objecting to the “Prospective Grant of an Exclusive Patent License: Manufacture, Distribution, Sale and Use of T-Cell-Based Immunotherapies for Solid Tumors” (88 FR 54629) to EnZeta Immunotherapies, Inc.
As noted in our questions to the NIH regarding this license, there is no public information about this company in the form of a web page, SEC filings, or Google search results. The Delaware Division of Records lists the registered agent as “Registered Agent”. Furthermore, in April 2023 a Federal Register notice was posted for nearly the same package of patents. That notice was to be licensed to “EnZeta, Inc.”, also registered in Delaware. The NIH refused to answer when asked how the April and August notices related to one another.
KEI’s objections to this license relate to:
- The NIH lack of transparency regarding the company or licensing terms,
- The non-enforcement of 35 USC 209 restrictions on the scope of rights,
- Failures to assure the inclusion of safeguards ensuring global access, and
- Transparency more generally, including implementation of WHA72.8.
Our full comments are available here: KEI-Comments-NIH-License-EnZeta-Immunotherapies-28Aug2023