First to See the Light

ST Chairman at Mobile World Congress

OLD GREENWICH, CT (Sept. 11, 2017) – Spencer Trask & Co., a leading business and technology development firm, today announced its chairman Kevin Kimberlin was invited to participate in a panel discussion at Mobile World Congress Americas. Taking place at San Francisco’s Moscone Center (Moscone North, M2M Zone) on Sept. 12, 2017, the panel begins at 4:30 p.m. PT and will focus on mobile connectivity and the future of IoT.

Moderated by Mobile Workforce GM Americas and noted IoT expert Stewart Skomra, the panel discussion will cover the evolution of mobile technology, future trends in the mobile space and how IoT represents the next great wave of what mobile makes possible in our lives. Skomra is joined by Kimberlin, a serial entrepreneur and mobile technology pioneer who helped launch Millicom, and Keith McMillen, CEO of BeBop Sensors, the leader in smart fabric sensor technology. McMillen’s proprietary technology turns any fabric, clothing or vehicle interior into a mobile-connectable sensor device.

Kimberlin and McMillen will share their unique insights on the acceleration of connectivity from the early days of mobile communications to the industrial IoT of today, including the adoption of connected wearables.

Mobile World Congress Americas, produced by the GSMA in partnership with CTIA, is being held September 12-14 in San Francisco and consists of a conference program featuring C-level speakers and leading industry experts. An estimated 30,000 people are expected to attend the event.

About Spencer Trask & Co.

Spencer Trask & Co. is a leading business and technology development firm that helps entrepreneurs, CEOs and corporate partners start and grow high impact ventures that change the world. The company has been instrumental in the formative stage of companies that pioneered many technological and scientific advancements in the fields of genomics, healthcare technology, mobile technology, the Internet and Open Innovation. Please visit www.spencertraskco.com for more information.

About GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organizations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series. Please visit www.gsma.com for additional information.

The Immune Response Corporation

Revolution in Immunotherapy

DISCOVERY – Non-infectious viral vaccines.

INNOVATOR – In the history of medicine, few figures have had as profound an impact on human health and wellbeing as Dr. Jonas Salk. His polio vaccine breakthrough was the culmination of centuries of research, dating back to Louis Pasteur discovering inoculation. However, Salk’s method was different. He found a way to protect people from viruses without giving them the very disease the vaccine was designed to prevent.

Using this no-infection method, Salk worked with Kevin Kimberlin of Spencer Trask to develop cancer vaccines and an immunotherapeutic to slow or prevent AIDS. They patented and conducted preclinical studies on a cancer vaccine that demonstrated a startling 90% protection against lethal malignancies. 

IMPACT – A fusion of dendritic cells and the cancer antigen, their technology formed the basis for the first FDA-approved cell-based immunotherapy. Over 40,000 men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer have received the treatment, and it appears especially effective for African-American men who receive a 48% improved survival benefit compared to white men.

The team and facility making this immunotherapy also made clinical and commercial supplies of the first approved gene therapy, the CAT-T drug Kymriah.

The first approved cell-base immunotherapy and gene therapy prompted the FDA Commissioner to say, “New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold out the potential to transform medicine and create an inflection point in our ability to treat and even cure many intractable illnesses.”

The noninfectious vaccine approach developed by Jonas Salk eliminated polio from the developed countries, his flu vaccine mitigated the effects of influenza for the past 75 years, and finally, the cancer vaccine developed at his Immune Response Corporation led the way to gene, cell-based, and immune therapy innovations that will impact human health for generations. In summary, Salk released the last step in enabling the most important preventative medicine – non-infectious viral vaccination.