Miami-Based Integene International Holdings Receives Florida Institute Funding
Funds will be used to advance commercialization of novel treatment for cardiovascular disease
Gainesville and Boca Raton, FL – May 2, 2014 - The Institute for Commercialization of Public Research (the Institute) announced today that it has finalized a funding agreement with Integene International Holdings(Integene), a vascular biotechnology company that has developed platform technology for diabetes and associated complications. The Institute works with Florida’s research universities and institutions to support new company creation and job growth, and bridges early funding gaps and enabling them to attract additional private investment capital.
Integene was founded to capitalize on patented bio-technology designed to optimize stem cell treatments for cardiovascular disease. The company’s founder, Dr. Keith Webster and his team, in association with the University of Miami, have developed procedures for regulating human growth factors within stem cells or host tissues, and bio-engineering stem cells to provide an optimized therapy for ischemia related disease. The company will begin clinical trials during the second quarter of 2014.
“Preclinical research has shown that our technology presents a treatment for subjects with peripheral artery disease that is superior to any other approach described at the preclinical level,” said Dr. Webster, Integene president. “Our approach to disease treatment is multifactorial and provides tissue re-engineering as well as autologous stem cell treatments that synergize and optimize the therapy. Our preclinical results have shown safety and remarkable long-term efficacy of combined gene/stem cell treatment that brings a new dimension to this treatment modality with the promise of a cure.”
“The Institute helps companies move their discoveries from the lab into the commercial marketplace by providing strategic guidance and funding that enables them to reach critical milestones,” said Jamie Grooms, CEO of the Institute. “Integene is pioneering a new field of treatment for one of the leading causes of death in the United States, and we look forward to the successful development of this novel approach which replicates natural biological processes of tissue repair and regeneration.”
About the Institute
Formed by the Florida Legislature in 2007, the Institute for Commercialization of Public Researchis a non-profit organization that works collaboratively with the technology licensing and commercialization offices of Florida’s state universities and private research institutions to leverage a $2B+ research base and form investable companies that create clean jobs in new industries that are driving the global economy. Over 100 new company projects have been identified across the state, and in the Institute deploys both company building and company funding programs to promising Florida companies. Twenty-seven companies have been funded since the program’s inception.
About Integene International Holdings, LLC
Integene International Holdings is a biotech company that has developed a comprehensive treatment for cardiovascular ischemic disease using combinations of proprietary gene and stem cell procedures. Our technology is based on more than 20 years of NIH-supported pre-clinical development and we are currently implementing Phase I/II clinical trials for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) using these procedures.