Our Current Portfolio

printable PDF

	Atheromed Atheromed is an early stage company developing a novel atherectomy device for the treatment of occlusive peripheral arterial disease, which can lead to claudication and critical limb ischemia.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in a Series B financing that was led by US Venture Partners. Tony Chou is a member of the board of directors, and Lucas Buchanan serves as a board observer.
	Biosurface Technologies Inc. (BioSET) BioSET is a development stage medical technology company engaged in the development of synthetic growth factors which mimic the effect of naturally occurring growth factors, but which are much less expensive to produce and easier to incorporate into coatings for medical devices. The Company currently is conducting clinical evaluations of a BMP-2 mimetic (B2A) product for both spine and ankle fusions.  BioSET also has a collaboration with Tornier to develop its FGF-2 mimetic (F2A) agent for orthopedic soft tissue repair.
Note	The Vertical Group was a founding investor of BioSET. John E. Runnells is a member of its Board of Directors.
	ENTrigue Surgical ENTrigue Surgical is an early commercial stage company that is developing several product platforms for the relatively underserved Ears, Nose, & Throat market. The company was founded in 2007 by an ENT surgeon (Dr. Donald Gonzales) and a proven medical device industry executive (Fred Dinger). Among ENTrigue's first commercialized products are a line of articulating instruments; a septal stapling system utilizing resorbable staples; an implantable device to prevent displacement of the turbinate during sinus surgery; and a proprietary balloon dilation system for the treatment of sinusitis.
Note	The Vertical Group was a founding investor in ENTrigue, and Richard Emmitt is a member of its Board of Directors.
	Flexuspine Flexuspine is an early stage company that is developing novel devices for the treatment of degenerative spine disease. The founders are experienced executives, engineers, and surgeons with extensive experience in the development of spinal technologies. Flexuspine initiated a clinical trial for its FSU (Functional Spinal Unit) in 2010.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in the Series B financing with Onset Ventures and Warburg Pincus. John E. Runnells is a member of the Board of Directors.
	Galil Medical Galil Medical is a pioneer and leader in the market for cryotherapy systems utilized to treat prostate and kidney cancer as well as non-cancerous disorders such as uterine fibroids. The company's technology is based on the ability to freeze and ablate tissue in a procedure that is both precise and minimally invasive. Based in Yokneam, Israel, Galil has a direct sales organization in the United States and has world-wide sales exceeding $20 million.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in a change of control and recapitalization financing for Galil Medical. Richard B. Emmitt is a member of its Board of Directors.
	Home Dialysis Plus Home Dialysis Plus (or HD+) is an early-stage company developing a novel, portable home hemodialysis system for patients in kidney failure. The system is intended to allow patients to experience the benefits of gentler, more frequent dialysis, a treatment regime that more closely simulates natural kidney processes and has been shown to improve patients’ quality of life.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in a Series A financing that was led by Warburg Pincus. Tony Chou is a member of the board of directors, and David DeGiralamo serves as a board observer.
	Incumed Incumed is a medical device "incubator" committed to working with physicians, engineers, and other inventors with new product ideas that may not have the commercial profile required by large corporations or the venture capital community. Incumed partners with inventors and utilizes its experience and resources to maximize the commercial value of a new product idea.
Note	The Vertical Group was Incumed's founding investor. Richard B. Emmitt and John E. Runnells are members of its Board of Directors.
	InPhenix Corporation InPhenix is a leading developer and manufacturer of optoelectronic devices for the medical, defense, and telecom markets. The Company's Super Light Emitting Diodes (SLEDs) are utilized in a variety of optical imaging systems for biomedical applications, and its customers include several leading manufacturers of ophthalmic and laboratory diagnostic instrumentation.
Note	The Vertical Group was an early investor in InPhenix. Yue-Teh Jang is a member of its Board of Directors.
	Omada Health is a pioneer of digital health, and builds evidence-based programs for chronic disease prevention and health promotion. The company's flagship product, Prevent , is a 16-week program for individuals at risk for diabetes and is based entirely on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) clinical trial. The Omada Health founding team is an interdisciplinary group of technologists and entrepreneurs from Google, Amazon, IDEO, Stanford, and Harvard who are passionate about creating accessible technology to prevent disease.
Note	The Vertical Group was an early investor in InPhenix. Tony Chou is a member of its Board of Directors.
	Oncomed Pharmaceuticals, Inc OncoMed is an early stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing drugs based on the newly discovered concept of 'cancer stem cells'. The company's scientific founders were among those responsible for first isolating such cancer stem cells, which appear to be the rare cells in tumors responsible for producing malignancy and tumor growth. In 2007 OncoMed and GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) formed a strategic alliance to develop cancer therapeutics based on the Company's cancer stem cell antibody technology. In 2010, Oncomed completed a second major collaboration partnership with Bayer Pharmaceuticals for development of antibodies in the Wnt pathway. The company retains rights to many additional drug development candidates and has the capital in place to finance the completion of thirteen major phase ll clinical trials by the end of 2016.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in the founding venture round. Jack W. Lasersohn is a member of its Board of Directors
	PhotoThera Inc. PhotoThera is a development stage company that is exploring non-invasive therapeutic applications for laser light. In 2008 PhotoThera completed a large randomized trial for its new therapy for stroke. While demonstrating a positive treatment effect, the clinical results did not reach the study’s statistical objective. Nevertheless, based on the trial’s observed positive treatment effect, as well as the positive results of previous clinical trials, PhotoThera recently has initiated a new clinical trial and remains optimistic about the potential of its technology.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in an early financing for PhotoThera. Jack W. Lasersohn is a member of its Board of Directors.
	ProteinSimple (formally Cell Biosciences) Cell Biosciences is an early stage company developing research tools for the biotechnology industry. The company has developed a novel instrument system that will improve both the throughput and accuracy of traditional protein detection assays currently performed using the 'western blot' system. The company is also ‘rolling up’smaller instrumentation companies in this space and has already completed a number of substantial acquisitions. A number of the acquired and internally developed technologies have the potential for breakout growth. We expect the company to exit 2012 with sales exceeding $40 million and break even EBITDA in 2011.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in a Series A financing. Jack W. Lasersohn is The Vertical Group contact.
	Proteolix, Inc. Proteolix is an biopharamaceutical company that is developing drugs which target the activities of the proteosome. The founders are among the world’s leading experts on the proteosome and their previous work led directly to the development of Velcade, the leading FDA approved drug for the treatment for multiple myeloma. The Proteolix drug, Carfilzomib, has completed several Phase II clinical trials that demonstrate efficacy equivalent or superior to Velcade without the latter drug’s dose limiting toxicity. These clinical results also suggest that the Proteolix drug may have superior efficacy compared to Celgene’s Revlimid, with a similar toxicity profile. In early testing, Carfilzomib also has demonstrated efficacy against both renal cell and small cell lung cancer. Proteolix was acquired by Onyx Pharmaceuticals in 2009 for total consideration which may exceed $800 million.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in the founding round of venture financing. Jack W. Lasersohn was a member of its Board of Directors.
	Silk Road Medical Silk Road Medical is an early stage company developing a novel endovascular approach to treating neurovascular disease.
Note	The Vertical Group incubated Silk Road Medical and remains its sole investor.
	Tepha, Inc. Tepha is a development stage medical device company engaged in utilizing unique and proprietary biomaterials derived from a class of polymers known as PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates). Relative to conventional medical grade polymers, the Tepha PHA-derived materials are distinguished by their elasticity, flexibility, and non-acidic, "cell friendly" biodegradation. This profile positions the TephaFLEX and TephELAST polymers as ideal materials for medical devices of the future, and especially those devices emerging from the rapidly expanding field of tissue engineering. Tepha received its first FDA 510(k) release for a PHA polymer derived device in 2007. The company's commercial partners include Aesculap, ENTrigue Surgical, Lifecell, NMT Medical, Tornier, and a NYSE-listed leader in the hernia repair market.
Note	The Vertical Group was the lead investor in Tepha at the time of its spin-off from its sister company, Metabolix, Inc. Richard B. Emmitt and Edward M. Giles are members of Tepha's Board of Directors.
	TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals discovers and develops important drugs to treat cancer. TetraLogic's founding scientists, Drs. George McLendon and Yigong Shi, at Princeton University, developed TetraLogic's core technology, called 'Smac mimetics', which enables drugs to be developed that unblock the cell death or apoptosis pathway, resulting in the death of tumor cells. The company initiated clinical studies during 2010 with very promising early results. The company also completed a major Series C equity financing led by new investor Clarus Venture Partners.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in the company's Series B financing in 2006 and Series C financing in 2010. Jack Lasersohn was a member of its Board of Directors from 2006-2010 and became a board observer in 2010 following the Series C financing.
	Tornier Tornier is a global orthopedic company and a leader in the market for shoulder and extremity joint replacement systems. Based in Grenoble, France, Tornier has been a respected orthopedic industry pioneer since its founding during the 1940's.  During the 1990's, Tornier's close collaboration with prominent surgeons led to the commercialization of the AEQUALIS shoulder and SALTO ankle product lines. During 2007 and 2008, Tornier completed four acquisitions and four corporate partnerships to expand its line of upper and lower extremity product lines and also to enter the sports/arthroscopy market.  The Company's annual sales are approximately $200 million.
Note	In July of 2006 The Vertical Group and its co-investor, Warburg Pincus, purchased a controlling interest in Tornier. Richard Emmitt is a member of its Board of Directors.
	ViaCyte ViaCyte is a pioneer in the field of islet cell transplantation for the treatment of diabetes. The company's cellular encapsulation and cell culture technology may lead to an alternative to life-long insulin injection therapy for millions of diabetics. ViaCyte has strategic partnerships with Becton Dickenson and SurModics.
Note	The Vertical Group participated in the founding financing round for the Company. Jack W. Lasersohn is the Vertical Group contact.

Home |About Us|Our Approach|Our Team|Our Portfolio|Historic Portfolio|Partners Only|Contact Us |Directions

© The Vertical Group - 25 DeForest Ave., Summit, NJ 07901 (908) 277-3737 -
530 Lytton Ave., Suite 304, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 566-9060