Guardian Nurses Founder to be Honored   

The Philadelphia Business Journal announced on Wednesday that Betty Long, RN, President and Founder of Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates has been honored as a 2011 Women of Distinction Award Recipient.

 The region's most dynamic women will be recognized on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 from 5PM to 8:30PM at the Philadelphia Sheraton Hotel, 17th and Race Streets. 
The event will gather over 500 of the region's newsmakers for networking and an awards ceremony.  Long, along with the other award recipients, will be profiled in a special section of the Business Journal's November 25th issue.

Read about JDP Therapeutics, Inc. in Startup Magazine!

docs/Start Up Magazine.pdf 

Invisible Sentinel Announces Allowance of Additional U.S. Patent Application for Rapid Diagnostic Technology to Detect Harmful Pathogens in Food

Invisible Sentinel Expands Intellectual Property for Company’s Diagnostic Technology

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 27, 2012 - Invisible Sentinel Inc., a life sciences company that develops rapid diagnostics for the detection of foodborne pathogens, announced today it has been issued a notice of allowance for U.S. Patent application 13/221,116, “Device for Detection of Target Molecules and Uses Thereof.” Once issued, this will be the second U.S. patent for Invisible Sentinel and will serve to further strengthen the Company’s intellectual property position. This application provides additional protection for Invisible Sentinel’s proprietary diagnostic device capable of rapid and selective identification of pathogenic bacteria from contaminated food samples.  The Company also has additional patent applications pending both in the United States and abroad.

 “The allowance of this patent application is a valuable addition to our Company’s growing intellectual property portfolio,” said Benjamin Pascal, CEO and co-founder of Invisible Sentinel.  “Our expanding patent portfolio comes at an opportune time, when new government regulations and enhanced consumer awareness are leading to a significant increase in food pathogen testing throughout the industry. We are currently preparing for regulatory submissions and anticipate commercializing our technology later this year.“

 Invisible Sentinel’s diagnostic system provides a robust, sensitive, reproducible, and easy-to-interpret assay.  The Company’s internally developed technology is designed to address the growing need for rapid, practical, and cost-efficient detection methods for foodborne pathogens at the point of care. “We anticipate our products to be an important step forward in enabling food processors and third party laboratories to perform practical yet sophisticated testing for pathogen contamination from farm to fork,” said Pascal. The food industry is the first market that the Company is targeting, but its patented and patent pending technology has the potential to provide valuable tools for additional industries including healthcare, veterinary, biodefense, and environmental testing, where rapid detection of target analytes from unrefined samples is critical.  

 About Invisible Sentinel

Based in Philadelphia, Invisible Sentinel develops diagnostic technologies for a safer food supply. The Company’s focus is on developing rapid diagnostics that quickly provide accurate information about the presence of harmful pathogens. Uniquely designed for easy, practical use—on-site and throughout the entire food distribution network—Invisible Sentinel’s proprietary diagnostic products promise to create a new standard for rigorous quality control.

Life Sciences Awards

Best Early-Stage Company: Platinum

Invisible Sentinel Inc. | Philadelphia

Invisible Sentinel website

Premium content from Philadelphia Business Journal

Date: Friday, October 7, 2011, 6:00am EDT

 Invisible Sentinel was founded in 2006 by Benjamin Pascal, the CEO, and Nicholas Siciliano, the company’s co-founder and chief operating officer, to develop novel, point-of-care diagnostic systems for the detection of microbial pathogens in the food supply. It employs eight in Philadelphia.

Major milestones: To date, Invisible Sentinel has recruited talented and accomplished scientists, raised $4 million from angel investors, and received its first patent, on Sept. 6, 2011. The company was selected by the U.S. and Chinese governments to travel to China as part of an envoy of diagnostic experts to explore methods to improve food quality and safety in China. The company has agreements from manufacturers and processors to alpha/beta test products and has received third party-validations for its diagnostic systems. It has also developed customized diagnostic platforms based on user requirements and field applications. The company has established an animal facility at The University of the Sciences and attracted interest from several potential strategic partners.

Top company goals for 2012: Invisible Sentinel is looking forward to launching its food-borne diseases diagnostic portfolio in 2012. The company intends to continue to explore out-licensing and strategic partnering opportunities, optimize manufacturing capabilities, scale up marketing and sales strategies and meet 2012 revenue projections.

Check out "United by Blue" featured in the Wall Street Journal:  WSJ blog

Brian Linton, 24, was on shaky ground when the retailers that sold his company's coconut-wood jewelry suddenly halted orders in late 2008. But he found inspiration in an unlikely place—trash-strewn beaches.

His company, Sand Shack LLC, based in Philadelphia, had taken off earlier that year. He had established a customer base of small beachside boutiques and surf shops on the East Coast, as well as one national retail chain, and had reached $150,000 in sales. The firm had a green streak, too—5% of the proceeds were donated to environmental-education and conservation organizations.

 

Brian Linton of Sand Shack LLC

After the financial collapse, however, "the only thing keeping us afloat were a few key accounts," says Mr. Linton. A few dozen boutiques out of several hundred were still ordering by mid-2009. And the 5% donations were a burden on the company.

Mr. Linton and his two employees brainstormed how to turn the business around without losing its environmental mission. Their concept? Instead of donating cash, the company would collect one pound of trash—mostly on waterways and beaches—for every product sold. Each cleanup involves a few hundred of those small loads at once; the company says it has pulled in 40,000 pounds to date.

Mr. Linton moved core operations to a new division called United By Blue, which sells hoodies, handbags and T-shirts. The company, he realized, could be more competitive if it had more items to offer, and it could build a stronger brand if its merchandise sported the company logo.

The business model had instant appeal to a whole new retail base—outdoor-industry stores, specialty clothing stores and certain supermarket chains. Despite the dismal first half of the year, sales in 2009 stayed flat.

Last year, sales hit $350,000. And this year they could double, Mr. Linton projects. Now, United By Blue is going international, thanks to interest from Japanese retailers. And the company has caught the attention of a major auto manufacturer that wants to launch a cross-promotional campaign by providing cars for the company's clean-up efforts.

"The recession made us think in a different way," says Mr. Linton. "Some companies throw money at a problem, but we want to internalize it and solve it ourselves."