Monday, September 12, 2005

Biotech

Seahorse trots to market with new name, partnerships

By Dyke Hendrickson

A Billerica company has used collaboration not only to rename itself but to develop a new scientific direction.

Thermogenic Imaging Inc. has changed its name to Seahorse Bioscience Inc. It has also developed a new game plan and a new product, which it plans to ship out to customers this fall.

Company officials say they have developed a new method to help pharmaceutical companies assess drug candidates for cancer, diabetes and obesity.

Unlike some enterprises that work in stealth, Seahorse engaged executives from companies including Abbott, Amgen, Merck, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson to help the company develop a new platform.

Its willingness to collaborate seems to have yielded a promising business plan, because in February it raised close to $10 million in private funding.

"We invested because the company has the potential of providing a new measurement tool in cell-based assays across a wide range of discovery," said David Stone, a partner in Flagship Ventures, one of the corporate investors.

"I think it will be well received when it comes out this fall, because the customer design team that helped develop it came from eight of the top 10 pharma companies. There was much input."

When it came to changing its image, a company panel considered the names "3DogBioscience" and "Firefly." But company executives say the women polled didn't like 3Dog and researchers learned that Firefly has been used by several other enterprises.

So there it was, Seahorse, in landlocked Billerica.

"The seahorse is a unique beast," said Steven Chomicz, vice president for marketing. "It changes color and eats 4,000 brine shrimp per day. We're comfortable with the new name."

Founder Jay Teich incorporated Thermogenic Imaging in 2000, completed the technology licensing and initial funding in 2001 and, in 2004, completed the acquisition of Innovative Microplate, which was also rolled into Seahorse.

Teich also led teams in the development of biochemical instruments for Inframetics Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Damon Corp. and Ciba Corning Diagnostics Inc.

Other Seahorse executives include Andy Neilson, vice president of product development, and Steve Young, founder of Innovative Microplate.

Seahorse is introducing what it calls extracellular flux (XF) technology, and officials say they are reinventing cell-based assays in the process.

Teich said the company has developed a bench-top instrument that measures the flux, or changes, in the vital signs of cells within a microplate.

Tony Bianco, a doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said the Seahorse device could make a difference.

"This science has potential because it can measure energy expenditure of cells in a fast, reliable way," said Bianco, who is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

"The device will be able to measure energy consumption for multiple wells, and the pharma companies that use it will be able to learn much about their best candidates in a relatively short time."