Tech startup of the month.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: CeMines Inc. - Company Profile

CEMINES INC., EVERGREEN WWW.CEMINES.COM FOUNDED: APRIL 2000

INITIAL LIGHTBULB: Two cell-biology experts from Estonia joined forces with a pair of Colorado-based real estate developers to take a better cancer diagnostic to market. The scientists--Drs. Toomas Neuman and Kala Palm--are veterans in the field of cellular transcription, i.e. the regulation and coordination of cellular development.

In 1999, Neuman made international headlines at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for successfully using stem cells to treat a Parkinson's patient. Regulatory issues have since thwarted the project, but the breakthrough captured the attention of Evergreen-based developer Richard Cavalli.

"I was totally fascinated with his work, and suggested to Dr. Neuman if he ever had a project that was commercially viable, I would help raise funds for it," Cavalli said.

Neuman and Palm came back to Cavalli with a concept for a cancer-diagnostic startup, and the trio teamed with Bailey Dotson (Cavalli's frequent real estate partner) to launch CeMines in 2000. Cavalli, Dotson and Neuman are now CeMines' president, CEO and chief scientific officer, respectively.

IN A NUTSHELL: "We just don't have very good technology yet for the accurate detection of cancer," said Dotson. "But if you catch it early, cancer is not only treatable, but it's much simpler to treat."

It follows that CeMines' mission is to commercialize a cancer test that detects tumors in their earliest stages. "When a cancer tumor begins forming, the body begins producing antibodies to attack the diseased cells," explained Cavalli. "Because these antibodies are produced at a very early stage--far before (the tumor) is imageable--they make great targets for a diagnostic."

Based on this concept, CeMines developed a patent-pending blood test dubbed Molecular Fingerprinting. "For the first time that we're aware of in the history of medicine, the cancer's tumors can be identified precisely through a non-invasive technique," said Cavalli.

He labeled the test as more cost-effective and more precise than existing cancer diagnostics. Because Molecular Fingerprinting conveys an accurate depiction of the cancer's molecular sub-type, physicians can also use the test to hone their therapeutic approaches, rather than...