Electronic Health Reporter

The SEED Partners, a Minneapolis-based collective of experienced entrepreneurs focused on disruptive technologies, announced today that it recently acquired FLIVO^® — a patented, proprietary healthcare technology platform from ImmunoChemistry Technologies (ICT), also located in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

The newly acquired technology platform detects active caspases, the primary bio-marker of apoptosis, to measure the intracellular process of apoptosis, not the effects. While previous techniques detect apoptosis in cell cultures, SEED’s new technology can rapidly recognize apoptotic cells in living animals. This exclusive bio-marking capability has vast applications in healthcare and biomedical research.

“This acquisition represents the reason we created The SEED Partners together,” says Managing Partner Jeff Julkowski. “Research and development groups can create amazing things. Venture capital groups invest money in hopes of a return. SEED recognizes the power of a technology to change the way people live their lives — then make it a reality. The SEED Partners exists to operationalize disruptive technologies. We believe in the incredible advancements to biomedical research and patient care promised by this technology platform.”

SEED hasn’t been the only organization to recognize this brilliant new bio-marker. This breakthrough technology also won Life Science Alley’s New Technology Showcase award. SEED believes they’ve acquired an analytical tool with power enough to impact the treatment of virtually every human disease state.

A new company and product portfolio around this acquisition are already in the works, with plans to fast-track the research, regulatory approvals and reach of this platform. SEED is determined to earn FDA-approval for human clinical use and to scale the technology for commercialization worldwide.

SEED Chief Science Officer Frank Santiago is excited about opportunities ahead for the platform, too. “There’s no question that apoptosis is a biological phenomenon that begs for the development of specific biomarkers that will identify and measure the intricacies of a variety of diseases,” he says. “We consider it our mission to shepherd this uniquely novel biomarker from the research lab to clinical trials and eventually to commercial realization. That’s the only way patients will benefit.”

This acquisition and SEED’s aspirations for this new technology platform are models for how the group envisions bringing innovative technologies into human practice. Strategic partnerships with leading institutions and world-class collaborators who share their vision and passion strengthen this emerging organization’s science and business credentials from the start.

ABOUT THE SEED PARTNERS

The SEED Partners is a collective of entrepreneurs working together to operationalize emerging technologies that promise to address societal challenges and disrupt traditional markets — with applied scientific rigor the common denominator. They attract and network with the best and brightest minds of their respective fields to ensure brilliant thinking at every stage of every project they agree to bring to market. With a modular in-house research and development scientific group to bring innovations to fruition and an integrated yet independent venture fund to support them, SEED is currently exploring the bio pharmaceutical, bio science, medical device, technology and consumer retail categories. Learn more at www.theseedpartners.com.