[ Portfolio ] Companies forged by our team

Breakthroughs, built into companies.

Seed One's team has founded more than a dozen companies, taking them from first patent to public listing or strategic sale. Some of them are profiled below.

10 companies

Relief for chronic ENT conditions, without invasive surgery.

Aerin Medical is a privately held, venture-backed company, headquartered in Mountain View, California. Aerin's mission is to expand access to meaningful relief for millions of patients suffering from chronic ENT conditions.

The company's products, VivAer® for nasal airway obstruction and RhinAer® for chronic rhinitis, leverage Aerin's proprietary temperature-controlled technology, which allows ENT physicians to reliably improve patients' symptoms with unique technologies that are appealing alternatives to invasive surgery. More than 150,000 patients have been treated with Aerin Medical products to date.

Focus area: Medical devices
Seed One: Scott Wolf founded Aerin
Outcome: 150,000+ patients treated

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Patients treated150,000+

Small-molecule therapies for serious neurological disorders.

Avigen was a NASDAQ-traded biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing unique small molecule therapeutics to treat serious neurological disorders, including neuropathic pain and neuromuscular spasm and spasticity. Avigen was developing AV650 for spasticity and neuromuscular spasm and AV411 for neuropathic pain as well as opioid withdrawal and addiction.

Additionally, the company was advancing toward clinical trials AV513, a novel therapy for the treatment of multiple bleeding disorders, including hemophilia A and B, when it was acquired by MediciNova in 2009.

Focus area: Biotechnology
Seed One: Jeff Wolf co-founded Avigen
Outcome: Acquired by MediciNova, 2009

Acquired2009

A minimally invasive alternative to heart surgery.

Cardiac Dimensions is developing novel interventional tools for the treatment of mitral valve regurgitation associated with dilated cardiomyopathy in the setting of congestive heart failure. CHF is a life-threatening condition afflicting nearly 5 million Americans and responsible for 2.5 million hospital admissions each year. Given their poor state of health, CHF patients are rarely candidates for conventional surgical procedures that could extend and improve their lives.

Cardiac Dimensions is developing a novel, minimally invasive therapy for mitral regurgitation as an alternative to surgery, thus significantly expanding the pool of CHF patients that can be helped.

Focus area: Medical devices
Seed One: Scott Wolf founded Cardiac Dimensions

Americans with CHF5 million

Mobile health management that keeps patients and carers connected.

GenerationOne leverages advanced mobile technologies and clinical decision support to provide an end-to-end solution that provides multi-directional communications and timely access to critical information that enables physicians, caregivers, families and patients to collaborate for better health management.

The company's proprietary wireless health management system is a flexible suite of components, including the GenerationOne mobile phone, which is optimized for delivery of health information, a web-based control center and notification, voice and data services that can be customized to monitor a wide range of disease and wellness conditions.

This allows providers, payers, employers and others responsible for managing the delivery and cost of healthcare to work with patients and consumers to integrate interactive, targeted health management tools and information services into their daily routines. By delivering real-time interventions and always-on decision support, GenerationOne's mobile healthcare solution results in more efficient healthcare delivery and improved patient outcomes.

Focus area: Medical devices
Seed One: Jeff Wolf founded GenerationOne and served as its Chairman and CEO

Jeff WolfChair + CEO

The anthrax antitoxin the United States keeps in reserve.

Elusys Therapeutics leverages immune-stimulatory and immune-derived therapies to combat infectious disease. Its anthrax antitoxin obiltoxaximab, licensed as ANTHIM® in the United States and Canada, is a medical countermeasure to mitigate the effect of anthrax exposure after a natural incident or intentional attack. Its mission is to accelerate the development and commercialization of novel biodefense solutions to defend tomorrow today.

Focus area: Biodefense
Seed One: Jeff Wolf serves as Elusys' Chairman and CEO
Outcome: ANTHIM® licensed in the US and Canada

Read the case study

Licensed inUS + Canada

Off-the-shelf vaccines that teach the immune system to fight cancer.

Heat Biologics was an immuno-oncology company focused on developing its novel, “off-the-shelf” ImPACT therapeutic vaccines to combat a wide range of cancers. Its ImPACT Therapy is designed to deliver live, genetically-modified, irradiated human cells which are reprogrammed to “pump out” a broad spectrum of cancer-associated antigens together with a potent immune adjuvant called “gp96” to educate and activate a cancer patient's immune system to recognize and kill cancerous cells.

Heat conducted a Phase 2 trial of its viagenpumatucel-L (HS-110) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer as well as a Phase 2 trial with its vesigenurtacel-L (HS-410) in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Focus area: Biotechnology
Seed One: Jeff Wolf founded Heat and served as its Chairman and CEO
Outcome: Phase 2 trials in lung and bladder cancer

Clinical trialsPhase 2

Radiofrequency technology for the predictable treatment of aging skin.

Primaeva Medical is developing devices for dermatologists, plastic surgeons and other cosmetic and aesthetic physicians. Primaeva Medical is dedicated to providing the aesthetic physician superior new tools for Restoring Youth for their patients who want to reverse the signs of aging. In 2009 Primaeva introduced a groundbreaking fractional radiofrequency system designed for the predictable treatment of aging skin. Primaeva was acquired by Syneron (NASDAQ: ELOS) in 2009.

Focus area: Medical devices
Seed One: Scott Wolf founded Primaeva Medical
Outcome: Acquired by Syneron, 2009

Acquired2009

Implantable drug-device products that fight post-surgical infection.

TyRx Pharma, Inc. was focused on developing implantable combination drug-device products utilizing novel biomaterials. Additionally, TyRx has exclusively licensed from Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center product patents and associated technologies to address the problem of post surgical nosocomial infection. TyRx was deploying its capabilities across a broad range of combination implantable medical-pharmaceutical devices. TyRx was acquired by Medtronic.

Focus area: Medical devices
Seed One: Jeff Wolf co-founded TyRx and served as its Chairman
Outcome: Acquired by Medtronic

Acquired byMedtronic

Non-invasive fat reduction, from lab bench to a $115 million IPO.

ZELTIQ Aesthetics is winning the battle of the bulge. The company's CoolSculpting device offers a non-invasive treatment as an alternative to liposuction to knock out fat cells. The treatment uses controlled cooling to reduce the temperature of fat cells and melt fat without causing scar tissue or skin damage. ZELTIQ Aesthetics received FDA approval in 2010 to use the CoolSculpting device on targeted areas of the torso, aka the “love handles,” but it is also used in about 45 other international markets.

The CoolSculpting system is sold to dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and aesthetic specialists such as medical spas. ZELTIQ Aesthetics completed a $115 million initial public offering in July 2011.

Focus area: Medical devices
Seed One: Scott Wolf founded ZELTIQ and served as its CEO
Outcome: $115M IPO, July 2011

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IPO raised$115M

Biologics manufacturing that gets breakthroughs to patients faster.

Scorpius BioManufacturing is powering the next generation of biologics production. The company operates a state-of-the-art facility in San Antonio, Texas, providing contract manufacturing and development services for advanced biologics and cell therapies. With rigorous adherence to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, the facility ensures safe, efficient, and scalable production from early clinical trials through commercial launch.

Scorpius BioManufacturing partners with industry innovators, enabling breakthroughs to reach patients faster.