UC Lyme-related patents; UCSF discrimination against Lyme disease patients

March 30, 2003

[sent blindcopy]

The only part of the University of California that seems to know about Lyme

disease is their patent office.

Enclosed below is the text from webpages for the University of California

Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) that relate to four Lyme-related patents.

The UC webpages describe Lyme disease as a " debilitating illness " and

emphasize the " difficulty in diagnosing infection. " The reader is told that

" [w]ith thousands of Lyme disease cases being reported annually in the United

States, there is a SUBSTANTIAL MARKET FOR IMPROVED VACCINES AND DIAGNOSTIC

AGENTS. "

One would also think there would be a " SUBSTANTIAL MARKET " for TREATMENT and

MEDICAL CARE for the illness, but that seems lost on the doctors and

administrators within the University of California system. The UCSF

previously had a Lyme disease clinic that was operated under Dick s, MD,

but it was closed. At present, patients in the California Lyme disease

patient support groups can vouch for the fact that care for tick-borne

disease is not available at UC medical centers. Seems the only market that UC

cares about is that of vaccines and diagnostics.

When I was at UCSF on Friday for a scan in the Radiology Department, a nurse

told me all about her own inability to get medical care for Lyme disease at

UCSF when she became ill with Lyme disease in 1996. The nurse repeatedly

called Dick s, MD (UCSF infectious disease specialist) an " asshole, " and

described how she told Dr. s of her rash and had saved the tick. Even

though she was ill with symptoms consistent with Lyme disease, Dr. s

refused to test the tick. " There is no Lyme disease in California! " he said.

The nurse described how she became more and more ill because she received no

treatment, and how it impaired her recovery.

The nurse described a child who was ill who also had denied treatment at

UCSF.

Afterwards, I thought I should do what was logical under these circumstances,

and stopped by the Patient Relations Department to find out how I could file

a complaint. Certainly, if we received such inferior care in any other

respect, we would be calling and writing the patient complaints office or

even visiting attorneys. Why do we accept this situation with respect to

tick-borne disease?

I described the problem to a of the Patient Relations

Department. Listening to the story, she correctly surmised this is a systemic

problem. Ms. suggested that I contact two UCSF administrators:

Chancellor Bishop

Chancellor's Office

Box 0402

513 Parnassus Ave, Suite 126

San Francisco, CA

Tel. (415) 476-2401

Fax (415) 476-9634

Email: <A HREF= " mailto:jmbishop@... " >jmbishop@...</A>

Mark R. Laret

CEO, UCSF Medical Center

Medical Center Administration

Box 0296, MU 509E

500 Parnassus Ave.

San Francisco, CA 94143

Tel. (415) 353-2733

Fax (415) 353-2765

Email: mark.laret@...

Tonight, I spoke with Jim Katzel, MD who used to work as a physician in the

UCSF Lyme disease clinic. Dr. Katzel said he worked there for five years, but

the commute back and forth from Mendocino County was too difficult. He said

his boss was s, MD, and that it was s, MD who

recruited him to work in the UCSF Lyme disease clinic.

Dr. Katzel said the Lyme disease clinic at UCSF was very busy during the time

it was open. He could not estimate how many patients were followed in the

clinic. Dr. Katzel said that when he left, Dr. s was supposed to manage

the patients who remained in the clinic. He did not mention that any of the

patients were referred elsewhere. What happened to all of the patients who

were in the clinic?

Last winter, I felt extremely ill, and tried and tried to get an appointment

with Dr. s. I faxed and telephoned him repeatedly, but he would never

approve an appointment for me to see him. The faxes contained detailed

information about my history of tick-borne disease, including positive lab

tests, and information about my current symptoms. The symptoms have been so

severe that I have not been able to work. After all my efforts, I simply gave

up.

I told Dr. Katzel of the difficulty I am experiencing finding medical care,

and that I did not understand why patients cannot receive care for this

endemic disease at UCSF. I had never heard of any medical center ever turning

patients away for treatment of any other medical condition. What -- the

medical center " doesn't do " certain kinds of brain tumors? They don't do

" heart disease " ? They " don't do " malaria?

I am weary of people telling me to go see Dr. " X, " " Y, " or " Z " whom I know,

being a physician myself, is not qualified to treat a complicated infectious

disease patient who has other major medical problems (i,.e., myself), or that

I should get on an airplane and fly 3000 miles away, or that I should be

treated via telephone by a doctor in another state, or on the East Coast --

and that their suggestion is supposed to be a solution. Are you KIDDING???

Here are some of the UC webpages about their Lyme-related patents. The

University of California *knows* about Lyme disease -- hey, they see it as a

moneymaker -- a potential revenue stream -- but it is another issue of trying

to get care within their hospital walls.

Lynn Shepler, MD JD

Mountain View, CA

-----------------------------------

<A HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe " >Click here: NCD Search

Results</A>

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe " >http://patron.ucop.edu/sea\

rch97cgi/s97_cgi.exe</A>

NCD

Search Result

Your query Lyme matched 4 out of 1385 documents, shown below.

Title/URL

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cuci%2E2000%2D414%2D1%2Ehtml & DocOffset=1 & DocsFound=4 & Que\

ryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fp\

atron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26ResultMax\

Docs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultField%3\

DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Collecti\

on%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCount%3\

D100 & " >1. A Tick Cytokine For Vaccines And Immunomodulation</A> (highlighted)

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/ncd/docs/uci.2000-414-1.html " >http://patron.ucop.ed\

u/ncd/docs/uci.2000-414-1.html</A> (original) 2602 bytes

Last modified 19-Dec-2000 08:09:54 pm

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E2000%2D201%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=2 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >2. ANTIGENS FOR IMPROVED LYME DISEASE VACCINES AND DIAGNOSTIC

REAGENTS</A>

(highlighted)

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/ncd/docs/ott.2000-201-0.00.html " >http://patron.ucop\

..edu/ncd/docs/ott.2000-201-0.00.html</A> (original) 3527

bytes Last modified 28-Mar-2003 07:34:05 pm

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E1996%2D559%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=3 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >3. ANTIGENS FOR IMPROVED LYME DISEASE VACCINES AND DIAGNOSTIC

REAGENTS</A>

(highlighted)

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/ncd/docs/ott.1996-559-0.00.html " >http://patron.ucop\

..edu/ncd/docs/ott.1996-559-0.00.html</A> (original) 3807

bytes Last modified 28-Mar-2003 07:32:49 pm

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E1990%2D017%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=4 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >4. LYME DISEASE ASSAY</A> (highlighted)

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/ncd/docs/ott.1990-017-0.00.html " >http://patron.ucop\

..edu/ncd/docs/ott.1990-017-0.00.html</A> (original) 4247

bytes Last modified 28-Mar-2003 07:30:39 pm

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cuci%2E2000%2D414%2D1%2Ehtml & DocOffset=1 & DocsFound=4 & Que\

ryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fp\

atron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26ResultMax\

Docs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultField%3\

DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Collecti\

on%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCount%3\

D100 & " >Click here: A Tick Cytokine For Vaccines And Immunomodulation</A>

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cuci%2E2000%2D414%2D1%2Ehtml & DocOffset=1 & DocsFound=4 & Que\

ryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fp\

atron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26ResultMax\

Docs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultField%3\

DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Collecti\

on%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCount%3\

D100 & " >http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View &

VdkVgwKey=f%3A%5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cuci%2E2000%2D414%2D1%2Ehtml &

DocOffset=1 & DocsFound=4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title &

SortOrder=Asc &

SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQ

ueryZip%3DLyme%26ResultMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultF

ield%3DTitle%26ResultField%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize

%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Collection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%2

6ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCount%3D100 & </A>

Technology/Business Opportunity

Non-Confidential Executive Summary

UC CASE NUMBER: 2000-414-1

TITLE: A Tick Cytokine For Vaccines And Immunomodulation

DEPARTMENT: Microbiology & Molecular Genetics

SUMMARY: Ticks can transmit disease to humans, pets and livestock. It is

well known that ticks can carry Lyme disease, which is caused by a pathogenic

bacterium living in the gut of the tick. An approach to dealing with

tick-related diseases is the development of vaccines against the ticks

themselves. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have

developed a system which includes characterizing the gut of the tick on a

genetic and protein level, creating recombinant proteins and antigens to

those proteins and using those antigens for the development of an anti-tick

vaccine. This proccess has wide ranging application in both the biomedical

field and livestock management. CONTACT: Vithal Rajadhyaksha - UCI

Email: <A

HREF= " mailto:vjrajadh@...%3Fsubject=Request%20for%20Information%20for%20Case\

%20No.2000-414-1 " >vjrajadh@...</A>

Office of Technology Alliances

University of California

380 University Tower

Irvine, CA 92697-7700

Telephone: (949) 824-7295

Fax: (949) 824-2899

---------------------------------------------------------------------

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E2000%2D201%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=2 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >Click here: ANTIGENS FOR IMPROVED LYME DISEASE VACCINES AND

DIAGNOSTIC

REAGENTS</A>

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E2000%2D201%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=2 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View &

VdkVgwKey=f%3A%5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E2000%2D201%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml &

DocOffset=2 & DocsFound=4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title &

SortOrder=Asc &

SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQ

ueryZip%3DLyme%26ResultMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultF

ield%3DTitle%26ResultField%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize

%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Collection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%2

6ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCount%3D100 & </A>

Non-Confidential Description

ANTIGENS FOR IMPROVED LYME DISEASE VACCINES AND DIAGNOSTIC REAGENTS

The tick-borne organism responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgodorferi,

produces a lipoprotein that serves as an antigen for the existing Lyme

disease vaccine. However, this vaccine has limited efficacy, mainly due to

downregulation of the lipoprotein while B. burgodorferi is present in a

mammalian host. A further problem in treating Lyme disease is the current

difficulty in diagnosing infections. Thus, there is a pressing need for B.

burgodorferi antigens that would more efficiently single out B. burgodorferi

within mammalian hosts.

University of California researchers have isolated and characterized three

outer membrane-spanning proteins from B. burgodorferi which have the

potential to serve as targets for immunoprotective and/or diagnostic

antibodies, offering a promising alternative to the lipoprotein. The

researchers also confirmed that one of the UC proteins elicits

immunoprotective responses in laboratory mice, thus showing that these

proteins are likely to lead to greatly improved vaccines and diagnostic

reagents (e.g. for serodiagnostic kits) against Lyme disease.

Because of the localized concentration of the disease in certain geographic

regions, use of diagnostic and therapeutic agents derived from this invention

would be particularly attractive given the existence of readily identifiable

populations of at-risk humans and animals. With thousands of Lyme disease

cases being reported annually in the United States, there is a substantial

market for improved vaccines and diagnostic agents.

INQUIRIES TO: Bernadette McCafferty <A

HREF= " mailto:bernadette.mccafferty@... " >bernadette.mccafferty@...</A>

REFERENCE: 2000-201

RELATED CASES: 1996-559

<A HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/ncd/techcodes/toplevel.html " >Technology

Categories</A>

Pharmaceuticals > Serums & related agents > Vaccines

University of California

Office of Technology Transfer

1111 lin Street, Fifth Floor

Oakland, CA 94607-5200

Phone: (510) 587-6000 Fax: (510) 587-6090

Go to <A HREF= " http://www.ucop.edu/ott/faculty.html " >Faculty Guidance</A>

Go to <A HREF= " http://www.ucop.edu/ott/industry.html " >UC Bridges to Industry</A>

Go to <A HREF= " http://www.ucop.edu/ott/admin.html " >Resources for

Administrators</A>

Reserved.

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?QueryZip=Lyme & ResultMaxDocs\

=1000 & ResultTemplate=ncd%2Ehts & ResultField=Title & ResultField=URL & ResultField=Mod\

ified & ResultField=Size & QueryText=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=A\

sc & ResultStart=1 & ResultCount=100 & AdminScriptName= & ServerKey= & AdminImagePath= " >[G\

o Back To Results]</A> & AdminImagePath= " >[Previous Doc]</A> <A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=Viewe%26SortOrder%3D\

Asc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCount%3D100 & AdminScriptName= & ServerKey= & AdminImage\

Path= " >[Next Doc]</A>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E1996%2D559%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=3 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >Click here: ANTIGENS FOR IMPROVED LYME DISEASE VACCINES AND

DIAGNOSTIC

REAGENTS</A>

<A

HREF= " http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View & VdkVgwKey=f%3A%\

5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E1996%2D559%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml & DocOffset=3 & DocsFound=\

4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title & SortOrder=Asc & SearchUrl=http%3A%2\

F%2Fpatron%2Eucop%2Eedu%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%2Eexe%3FQueryZip%3DLyme%26Resu\

ltMaxDocs%3D1000%26ResultTemplate%3Dncd%252Ehts%26ResultField%3DTitle%26ResultFi\

eld%3DURL%26ResultField%3DModified%26ResultField%3DSize%26QueryText%3DLyme%26Col\

lection%3DNCD%26SortField%3DTitle%26SortOrder%3DAsc%26ResultStart%3D1%26ResultCo\

unt%3D100 & " >http://patron.ucop.edu/search97cgi/s97_cgi.exe?action=View &

VdkVgwKey=f%3A%5Cwwwroot%5Cncd%5Cdocs%5Cott%2E1996%2D559%2D0%2E00%2Ehtml &

DocOffset=3 & DocsFound=4 & QueryZip=Lyme & Collection=NCD & SortField=Title &