The evaluation of potential Accelerator companies is very rigorous and the process is extremely selective. As of December 2005, Accelerator has made investments in five emerging biotechnology companies: VieVax Corp., VLST Corp., Spaltudaq Corp., Homestead Clinical Corp., Allozyne, Inc. and Seredigm Corp. 
  
 VieVax Corp.
VieVax Corp. is focused on commercializing a novel approach to vaccine development that is designed to overcome the limitations of existing vaccine technologies. These technologies, largely unchanged and unimproved for the past half-century, have consistently fallen short in addressing a number of critical issues, including:
  • the spread of serious emerging infectious diseases,
  • the emergence of treatment-resistant strains of infectious pathogens,
  • robust and reliable manufacturing,
  • the growing threat of bioterrorism employing infectious pathogens, and, a failure to develop vaccines against infectious agents such as HIV.

New paradigms in the field of vaccine development have been slow to emerge, and when they have, have largely failed. An inability to rapidly address this escalating global need may lead to a situation in which humans are more at risk from the threat of infectious pathogens than at any time prior to the advent of modern antibiotics.

The VieVax vaccine platform will address each of the most critical unmet needs that exist in the global market for vaccines:

  • Improved Efficacy
  • Robust Manufacturing processes
  • Demonstrated Safety
  • Rapid Development

The VieVax platform is applicable to the development of vaccines against virtually any pathogen and against certain toxins. Highly conserved pathogen-specific antigens can be selected for any pathogen for which genomic sequence exist. VieVax is capable of rapidly developing effective and safe vaccines that using reliable and cost-effective manufacturing processes. Vaccine targets include a number of viruses, bacteria and toxins. > Back to Top

 

 

 

 

 

VLST Corp.                                             
VLST Corp. has developed a novel and streamlined approach to speed the development of effective therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. This approach combines cutting-edge bioinformatics and proteomics with an in-depth understanding of key inflammatory processes to provide a rapid and rational approach to identifying new targets for the development of novel biologic therapies. Disease areas in which the company portfolio's technology may have utility include multiple sclerosis, lupus, rheumatoid diseases, diabetes, as well as a number of other important and clinically unmet indications. The company has already identified a number of highly pre-validated cellular targets and counter structures and is evaluating their therapeutic potential in relevant preclinical disease models.

The company was co-founded by Drs. Craig Smith and Steven Wiley. Dr. Smith and Dr. Ray Goodwin, a member of the VLST Scientific Advisory Board, were co-inventors of Enbrel; a biologic therapy for the treatment of multiple inflammatory disorders which has annual sales already exceeding $1.9 billion in 2004.

www.vlstcorp.com   > Back to Top

 

 

 

 

 

Spaltudaq Corp.
Spaltudaq Corp. is focused on developing novel tumor-specific therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer. The company portfolio's technology platform, In Situ Tumor-Specific Antibody Rescue (I-STAR), harnesses the specificity of the immune system to isolate tumor-specific antibodies. Significantly, Spaltudaq's process is very rapid, leading to the identification and testing of fully human antibodies within ten to fourteen days of the initial sample analysis. The speed and simplicity of this approach allows multiple candidate antibodies to be evaluated in a short period of time and enables selection of those antibodies with the greatest therapeutic potential for further development efforts. Selected antibodies may be developed directly as therapeutics, or may be used to deliver cancer-killing compounds specifically to tumor cells.

www.spaltudaq.com   > Back to Top

 

 

 

 

 Homestead Clinical Corporation
Homestead Clinical Corporation was founded to commercialize a suite of technologies developed at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) that have broad utility in the development of novel diagnostic , prognostic, and theranostic  tools. The ISB is a world-renowned non-profit research institute whose mission is to unravel the mysteries of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and AIDS. Homestead will utilize proprietary technologies, licensed from the ISB, to develop diagnostic /prognostic/theranostic tools, designed to facilitate early intervention in a variety of diseases and to make accurate predictions as to appropriate courses of treatment. Leveraging these technologies in combination represents a significant step toward understanding disease onset and progression.
 
Early diagnosis would have a significant impact on survival in diseases such as cancer but the tools are not yet available to make that possible today. Homestead’s goal is to change that and to help facilitate a paradigm shift that will enable the new field of predictive and preventive medicine. > Back to Top
 

 

 

 

 Allozyne, Inc.
Allozyne, Inc. was founded to commercialize proprietary technologies developed in the laboratories of Dr. David Tirrell and Dr. William Goddard III., at the California Institute of Technology. These technologies will enable the company to improve the efficacy of protein-based therapeutics. This is achieved by applying a rapid and consistent approach to specifically modifying recombinant proteins, and has broad utility in developing improved therapeutic proteins including monoclonal antibodies. 
 
The Allozyne approach enables the manufacturing of proteins into which non-natural amino acids may be incorporated.  These are chemical structures that are similar to yet distinct from the naturally occurring amino acid building blocks of protein.  The type and specific location of the non-natural amino acid used can be optimized to improve the potency, tolerability and pharmacology of protein-based therapeutics. Allozyne will initially focus on developing enhanced formulations of currently approved protein therapeutic products, using the company’s diverse chemistries and proprietary modification technologies. The modifications will significantly improve the efficacy of those protein drugs, resulting in superior patient care and outcomes.> Back to Top
 

 

 

 

 Seredigm Corp.

Seredigm is focused on developing novel drugs that protect against tissue damage in a variety of acute or chronic medical conditions. Tissue damage plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of diverse life-threatening conditions, including a variety of acute cardiac indications and chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis and asthma. According to the American Heart Association, more than 1 million Americans will have an acute cardiac event this year.  By protecting against life-threatening tissue damage, Seredigm’s products may have the potential to make a considerable difference in the lives of patients, and with this prospect comes a significant commercial opportunity.