Ara Katz’s Post

It’s about time. We’re centuries overdue for a revolution in vaginal care. Today, one giant leap: VS-01™, our first innovation targeting the vaginal microbiome, is officially here. 🚀 https://lnkd.in/gDPAuDuu Eight years ago, we began our journey with Dr. Jacques Ravel to transform his groundbreaking vaginal microbiome research into real-world applications. While more than two-thirds of women1 in the U.S. reported experiencing vaginal discomfort in the past year, most available products target only the symptoms in ways that further disrupt the vaginal microbiome. Driven by the unmet needs and data gaps in women’s health, we’ve leveraged nearly two decades of Dr. Ravel’s research to create VS-01™—the first vaginal synbiotic clinically validated to rapidly establish an optimal vaginal microbiome dominated by L. crispatus, the vagina’s most protective bacteria. VS-01™ represents a new era in vaginal care, transcending a legacy of harsh, reactive solutions and ushering in a sustainable approach that addresses the source, not just the symptoms. The launch of VS-01™ reflects the very essence of why we founded Seed: to translate pioneering microbiome discoveries into life-changing health innovations. It is especially meaningful to accelerate these advancements in vaginal health, an area that has been so deprioritized and systemically overlooked. The vaginal microbiome is the next frontier in women’s health, and VS-01™ embodies its vast potential. Our commitment to education also means this is more than just a product launch—it is a call to awareness and action, an opportunity to offer the vaginal microbiome as a new lens for understanding and empowerment. Know that your work and dedication to steward this narrative will have a lasting impact, far beyond what we can imagine today. To Dr. Jacques Ravel, whose life's work prioritized vaginal health when science and medicine did not, and to the devoted members of this ecosystem who've worked tirelessly to bring VS-01™ into the world: thank you. Today is a day we’ve been working towards since the inception of Seed, and we could not be more grateful to celebrate such a pivotal moment with this team. Your exemplary curiosity, thoughtfulness, and resilience have brought VS-01™ to life.

Today has been years in the making for us at Seed Health. From our inception, we've been driven by a singular vision: to unlock the microbiome’s vast potential for human and planetary health. Today, we’re excited to introduce CODA 🚀, our latest leap forward, propelled by the pioneering work of renowned computational biologist and microbiome pioneer Eran Segal and The Human Phenotype Project. CODA is powered by the the largest host-microbiome set that exists, comprising over 3 million observable data points collected across 13,000 individuals and spanning 40,000 subject years. The dataset captures the diversity of human health factors—including biological, environmental, and dietary influences, lifestyles, and medical histories—at unparalleled depth and scale, uncovering new insight into the role of the microbiome in human health and disease. 🤯 The translation of microbiome science has long been challenged by complexity and variability. With CODA, we address these issues head-on, using AI, machine learning, and microbial genomics to enable the precise identification of reliable patterns and correlations between the microbiome and various health outcomes for the first time. With this deeper understanding of the microbiome's role in health and aging, our insights from CODA are driving the development of precision probiotics and microbiome-directed interventions that target critical health outcomes across metabolic health, brain function, menopause, and longevity. More soon. 👀 https://lnkd.in/gC5_aFsd

Thank you to Mickey Rapkin and Eric Ryan for Forbes—nothing like talking about your life’s work and our mission to realize the potential of the microbiome….over cereal. https://lnkd.in/gU8DVGtU

Very excited to announce this announcement. The opportunity to evolve, expand and redefine what's possible with our Seed Health brand alongside our extraordinary team and now our Chief Creative Officer Charles Fulford is what microbial dreams are made of. Also, Charles Fulford is hiring :)

Some macro news in our Seed-verse 🌱

Our next innovation for the next generation is finally out in the world 🌱

New from the Seed-verse: We just dropped our first children's book. A Kid’s Book About Your Microbiome —authored by me, but more importantly made possible by A Kids Company About who dedicate themselves to narratives that will shape children's perspectives and expand the world for them—especially around the hard stuff. An invitation to discover the extraordinary galaxy of trillions within. Too small to see. With an impact greater than we could have imagined. The book answers questions like, “What is my microbiome?”, “Where did it come from?”, “What does it do?”, and “How can I help it thrive?”. • Dedicated to the human I love more than all known and yet to be known galaxies, my son Pax. In honor of the journey building Seed Health with Raja Dhir • the best co-pioneer one could conjure. In gratitude to the scientists and translators who were in the room when it all happened.    And in recognition, credit, mad respect and overall love and awe for the the everyday magicmaking that it takes to create the things we put out into the world. Every word, post, font kerning, pixel, image, em dash, origami folding technique is poured over with a kind of care and love of story and hope to make an impact in a way I had always closed my eyes and wished could be incepted within a team. To the magicians • And to the scientist / artist duo who have made bacteria beautiful turning petri dishes into perspective shifting • Tal Danino and Soonhee Moon •

Thank you Joe Vennare for such a thoughtful discussion on Fitt Insider - and for the opportunity to share our work Seed Health 🌱