Cell lines are important biomedical tools that have revolutionized the way researchers study diseases. Human tumor cell lines can be used as in vitro model systems of cancer that are able to simulate how the disease behaves in the body. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has approximately 439 human tumor cell lines that have an important application as research tools to study a variety of cancers. The majority of the cell lines were cultured from lung cancer tissue, but they can be used to study many tumor types. 

The cell line bank, which began in 1976, is the result of exhaustive efforts by NCI scientists to provide the research community with comprehensive biological tools to study several cancer types. These cell lines contain a mutation that makes the cells sensitive to the presence of growth-inhibiting drugs, and they are valuable in identifying compounds with a therapeutic potential against cancer. Scientists can use the cell lines to screen thousands of compounds for anti-cancer activity. Five of the cell lines were made a part of the NCI 60 cell line screen, the most extensively profiled set of cancer cells in existence. 

Transfer of these cell lines to the research community involved a variety of mechanisms, including consolidating them into one umbrella Invention Report in 2007. This aggregation allowed researchers easier access to any of the 400 plus lines contained in the invention without having to negotiate separate agreements for each line. 

In order to transfer the cell lines to nonprofit entities, 63 Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) were negotiated by NCI’s Technology Transfer Center. Additionally, thousands of MTAs for the cell lines have been executed by American Type Culture Collection, a repository for biological materials. The cell lines were distributed to for-profit entities through 17 Biological Material Licenses negotiated by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Technology Transfer. Four Commercial Evaluation Licenses were used to grant the nonexclusive right to evaluate the technology’s commercial potential. In addition, nine licenses are currently being negotiated. 

Although the technology is a research tool, significant tangible benefits have already been realized from its transfer. These cell lines have been the subject of more licenses than any other biological material at NCI and have netted approximately $350,000 in royalties that will be used to further NIH’s mission. Several of the cell lines have each been cited in over 100 publications and numerous patents. In fact, numerous etiologic lung cancer genes published over the past two decades were either discovered or validated using these cell lines. Significant breakthroughs have resulted from the transfer of this technology, and it appears there is wide potential for future research and further opportunities for technology transfer. 

Awardees

National Cancer Institute

• Dr. Frederic J. Kaye

University of Texas - Southwestern Medical School 

• Dr. Adi F. Gazdar 
• Dr. John Minna 

Harvard Medical School Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 

• Dr. Bruce E. Johnson