Lumiphore Inc.
[private]
www.lumiphore.com
(650) 369-5864
Redwood City, CA
Chief Executive:
Scott King
What it does:
Develops and markets biological detection systems based on
luminescent lanthanide complexes, which provide a unique combination
of sensitivity, reliability, flexibility and high throughput.
Biotech research and applications continue to drive demand for lu-
minescent biological probes. Organic fluorophores are the market's work-
horse but interest has increased in lanthanides. Several of these heavy met-
als can provide longer, brighter, more stable luminescence than
conventional fluorescent molecules.
Free lanthanides, however, quickly lose their luminescence if exposed
to water molecules
--
an undesirable quality for biological applications.
Several companies, including Applera [ABI], currently sell and continue
to seek improved water-proof "cages," but Lumiphore claims to have a su-
perior solution. The start-up's nanoscale molecules were developed and
spun off four years ago from the University of California at Berkeley,
which grants the company exclusive licensing rights.
Lumiphore's complexes may deliver more fluorescence than conventional
materials, along with resistance to photobleaching, which enables them to
mark the same sample in multiple experiments. Lastly, the lanthanide metals
offer different compounds to render different colors for marking samples.
The probes show real promise for a host of biotech sectors, including
high-throughput research in pharmaceutical and biotech labs, clinical
uses and imaging applications. CEO Scott King summarizes Lumiphore's
niche as select applications requiring greater sensitivity: "If you want very
high sensitivity in a homogenous assay, we will win every time."
The company appears ready to compete and is quickly signing joint
ventures to generate early revenue. In December, Lumiphore inked a de-
velopment deal with Biostride, a U.S. supplier of antibodies and antibody-
based testing reagents. The partnership aims to develop a portable saliva
test for detecting five commonly abused drug classes
--
other than alco-
hol. If successful, the companies could gain an early lead in a market King
projects to be $1 to $3 billion.
King wouldn't speculate on a release date, but he said the product was
"over the hump in pre-clinical work on saliva samples."
More recently, Lumiphore granted Utah-based Echelon BioSciences
licensed use of its lanthanide-complex technology to develop TR-FRET
assays and reagents for use in research and drug discovery. The combined
technologies target research for various diseases including cancer, diabetes
and inflammation.
Other than its IP, Lumiphore has few resources. Instead, its strategy
has relied on joint development to help advance its technology to the
commercial phase. Staff numbers under 10, and include two full-time re-
searchers with another hire planned, said King.
During its early years, the company funded its operations with con-
vertible notes. Last year, it raised $1 million in a Series A round of financ-
ing. Its Series B round will close in the same range this year, and a third
round may follow soon. German investor NanoStart is the biggest backer,
said King, who added that the funds will help fuel the company's R&D
and advance development of bioactive conjugates and additional com-
pounds for present and future partnerships.
Telomolecular Corp.
[private]
www.telomolecular.com
(916) 410-8681
Fair Oaks, CA
Chief Executive:
Matthew Sarad
What it does:
Develops nanotechnologies capable of delivering large-mole-
cule proteins across human cell membranes. The focus is on repair of chro-
mosomal telomeres (the physical ends of eukaryotic chromosomes) with the
goal of offsetting and reversing age-related diseases.
Telomolecular fits neatly into the theme from last issue's cover
story on nano-enabled anti-aging efforts
(see "Does Nanotechnology
Flow from the Fountain of Youth?" March 2006). The start-up aims
to manipulate the life span of cells in vitro, with the specific aim of
extending cells' ability to regenerate. This opens new opportunities
in cosmetics, skin care and advancing skin graft technology. It may
also lead to therapies for certain age-related diseases, such as macular
degeneration.
In a nutshell, Telomolecular's technology applies to virtually any
type of cell that divides. Typically, cells comprising human tissue can
divide themselves only 50 times or so before dying. That's because
each time a cell divides, the telomeres that knot the end of its chro-
mosomes become shorter until the chromosomes are too frayed to
maintain cell integrity.
Telomolecular is developing products to stop or even reverse
telomere shortening. Its technology follows two branches. One is
based on a catalytic enzyme called telomerase reverse transcriptase,
or TERT, which has been shown to reverse telomere damage in vitro.
The other technology, licensed from Stanford University, uses syn-
thetic DNA nanocircles that also have been shown to elongate chro-
mosomal telomeres in vitro.
Telomolecular found a bioabsorbable, biodegradable means to
deliver TERT enzymes to targeted cells in the form of an FDA-ap-
proved large molecule delivery system based on nanopolymers devel-
oped and licensed from the University of Nebraska. PLGA delivers
the raw enzymes in a way that does not alter genes or generate an im-
mune response. Also important, its introduction of telomerase into
cells has led to rapid cell division and extended life spans, but it does
not appear to make them cancerous.
CEO Michael Sarad said it was possible that Telomolecular could
launch a product in the cosmetics marketplace in under 24 months. The
killer app, so to speak, would be a pharmaceutical that could treat age re-
lated diseases or perhaps even the aging process itself. But, given the
pharmaceutical market's approval process, that could wait 5, 10, 12 years.
Telomolecular has been in business for less than a year. So far, in
its first round of financing, the company has raised about $1 million
from private sources. Sarad said he hopes to raise a total of $4 million
by the end of this year and twice that amount in 2007.
Telomolecular has no physical resources or research staff, but
owns some IP in synthetic nanocircles, PLGA particles and protein
production. Rather than invest in infrastructure, Sarad said the new
funding will instead go toward contracting its clinical research
--
in-
cluding an agreement the company signed last month with New Life
Scientifics Inc. While the company is at its earliest stage, it bears
watching closely in the years to come.
Companies to Watch
6
·
April 2006
© Copyright 2006 Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report
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