Spencer Trask & Co.

The Chairman of Spencer Trask co-founded Ciena Corp. with the firm started by Gordon Gould — the inventor of the optical amplifier and the laser — and his protégé, Dr. David Huber.[5][6] Spencer Trask affiliates were the first investors in Ciena.[7]

Ciena popularized the optical amplifier by introducing the first dense wave division multiplexing (WDM) -- an optical communication technology[8] that it is today the common basis of all high-capacity metro, regional and long-distance telecommunications networks in the world[9] and thus a foundation of the Internet.

The optical amplifier is an invention that has been compared in importance to the integrated circuit because it enabled The Information Age.[10][11]

The chairman of Spencer Trask also co-founded Myriad Genetics with the two scientists that developed gene mapping and DNA sequencing  – the technologies that drove The Human Genome Project. After Spencer Trask affiliates financed its launch,[12] the firm received international acclaim when it discovered and sequenced the breast cancer gene, BRCA1.[13] Myriad then established the first clinical laboratory to commercialize genomic testing.[14] By informing millions of women about their BRCA1/2 risk, the lab saved countless lives.[15]

Other landmarks in genomics from Myriad include: the first test to measure the molecular biology and aggressiveness of prostate cancer; test to assess the hereditary risk of any woman not previously diagnosed with breast cancer, regardless of racial and ethnic ancestry; a molecular test to assess the efficacy of 61 medications for treating depression, anxiety and ADHD; and the first lab-developed genetic test and DNA-repair drug combination to be approved by the FDA.

Evidence-based Medicine

To make the evidence-based medicine revolution practical, Spencer Trask financed the Series A venture round. Health Dialog Health Dialog provided $130 million to support the work of Dr. Jack Wennberg and his colleagues at Dartmouth College to give patients unbiased evidence relevant to their medical decisions. Wennberg’s data became the academic foundation for the Obama Administration to reshape the healthcare industry by comparing the effectiveness of tests, procedures and drugs.[16] Wennberg’s research convinced Congress to enact the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. By commercializing evidence-based medicine and patient decision-making, Health Dialog lowered the cost and improved the quality of health care for 18 million people and grew into one of the fastest-growing private companies in America.[17] The firm was acquired by British United Provident Association for $775 million.[18]

Osiris Therapeutics, co-founded by Kimberlin and funded by Spencer Trask, develops and commercializes bioengineered stem cell and tissue-based products, broadly known as cellular therapy or regenerative medicine. Osiris patented the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) [#5,486,359] and developed it into the world’s first approved systemically delivered stem cell drug.[19] The MSC is the basis of tissue repair products that regenerate or replace tissue function lost due to age, disease, damage, or congenital defects.

Osiris scientists published a seminal study on the MSC in Science[20] that has been cited 26,795 times as of September 2021. As a measure of its importance, only 28 papers were cited more times in the ranking by Thomson Reuters of 58 million scientific papers published[21] since 1900. This Osiris study has been cited more than Watson and Crick’s paper describing the double helix structure of DNA (15,858 times).

The firm sold its stem cell drug and related MSC patents for $50 million, plus another $50 million and royalties that could reach 10% when revenues exceed $750 million.[22] The balance of Osiris was acquired for $660 million by Smith & Nephews.

On October 4, 2018, Spencer Trask merged its startup AI company, founded on principles of chaos physics by Vietnamese immigrant Dr. Minh Von-Duong, to become a 25% owner in Interos, Inc.[23]  This artificial intelligence platform became the foundation for the world’s largest business relationship knowledge graph. It identifies supply chain and cyber risks such as those emerging from Covid-19, de-globalization and cyber intrusions.[24] In July 2021, Kleiner Perkins, Venrock and Knight Dragon invested $100 million, valuing Interos at $1 billion.[25]

With polio vaccine hero Jonas Salk, Kimberlin founded The Immune Response Corporation (IRC). IRC developed the dendritic cell fusion technology that underlies the first FDA-approved cancer vaccine considered the first cell-based immunotherapy, thus launching a revolution in immunotherapy.[26] In addition, Kimberlin and Dr. Salk worked together for almost a decade [k2]  to conduct the largest HIV immunotherapy trial to that point (2,527 patients) with support from the gay community. This produced “the first clear demonstration of the potential reconstitution of the immune response in chronic HIV infection.”[27] It offers particular benefit to African American men with advanced prostate cancer who experience a 48% relative risk reduction in death[28] as compared to similar white men. Furthermore, the manufacturing plant, the distribution system and the team that made this first cell-based immunotherapy also manufactured the first FDA-approved gene therapy (the CAR-T from Novartis).[29]

Several ventures backed by Spencer Trask have been acquired, including:

• Prolor (stock swap worth $1.2 billion)[30]
• ImThera Medical ($225 million)[31]
• Prospect Medical ($363 million).[32]

On February 4, 2001, in exchange for cash and stock, startup OpenTable acquired the reservation administration software developed by Spencer Trask-backed EZ2Get.[33][34] According to the CEO at the time, this was “the industry-leading software” for “real time Internet reservations.”[34] Today, OpenTable is the world’s leading provider of online restaurant reservations, delivering 1 billion reservations per year for 60,000 restaurants. Priceline acquired Open Table for $2.6 billion in cash.[35]  

At its inception, Spencer Trask sought to license and develop the SeedInvest crowdfunding platform, becoming a major Series “A” investor in the process. Today, SeedInvest is a prominent crowdfunding platform, having completed 235 startup fundings and assembling a global network of 500,000 investors.

In 2018, SeedInvest stockholders swapped all of their outstanding shares for 9 million Series E Preferred shares of Circle Internet Financial Ltd,[36] the first digital currency native commercial financial institution built on public blockchain and decentralized finance.[37] In June 2021, Circle was recognized as a Unicorn in the SPAC de-merger announcement that valued the firm at $4.5 billion.[38]

The firm's is the legacy of Mr. Spencer A. Trask who financed the launch of electrification, the recording industry and the film industry by backing Thomas Edison, and the beginning of wireless communication with Guglielmo Marconi. Mr. Trask, the president of the world's first electricity firm, which became Consolidated Edison, and he was a founding trustee of the predecessor to General Electric.

In a memorial published in The New York Times, representatives of New York Consolidated Edison wrote: “Mr. Trask’s financial support of the electric lighting industry in its pioneer days was a potent feature in securing to the community the advantages and conveniences of the electric light.”[39]

In a similar vein, Mr. Trask’s biography states: “Given Trask’s role from the outset, along with his involvement in the day-to-day management of Edison Illuminating throughout the 1880s and 1890s, Trask was a key executive who brought the benefits of power and light to New York City, and from there, across the United States and, ultimately, to the entire human family.”[40]

As controlling shareholder and chairman of The New York Times, he hired Adolph Ochs, whose descendants run the Times today.

• Spencer Trask Lectures | Public Lectures at Princeton