WHAT WE DO - Saving lives, one square inch at a time
Annually, almost 6 million children under five years of age die globally, among them roughly 2 million from only three diseases with relatively simple and inexpensive cures such as diarrhea, malaria or pneumonia. Worldwide, millions of people – children and adults alike - die or suffer long-term consequences of illness because they simply do not have access to the right medicines, because they can’t afford the right medicines or because they don’t follow the directions for taking the medicine. Or, in the words of former US Surgeon General Everett Koop, “Medicines don’t work in patients who don’t take them.” Here is, what patients and caregivers in our target demographic often say:
“The medicine tastes awful.”
“I have difficulty swallowing pills and capsules.”
“It’s hard to take liquid medicines without spilling it.”
“The medicines are not available where I live.”
“The medicines are ineffective.”
“The medicines we get are counterfeit.”
“The medicines are too expensive.”
The two root causes behind these problems are that the traditional model of large pharmaceutical companies neglects the needs of underserved populations and that patients, particularly children don’t like to take medicine in the form of tablets or liquids. Even in “pill-popping” countries such as the United States, estimates say that between 30% and 50% of the population have difficulties swallowing pills. Beyond health aspects and the human tragedies behind all of this, illnesses and illness-related deaths have huge economic impacts and tangibly reduce the GDPs of developing nations.
Our solution is a drug delivery platform called Oral Dissolvable Strips (ODS). These are very thin, stamp-sized, sweetened and flavored strips of carrier matrix in which active ingredients are embedded. Being put on the tongue, the inside of the cheek or the roof of the mouth, they hold in place while rapidly and completely dissolving and releasing the active ingredients. All of this is usually a matter of seconds and with pleasant flavoring that could be anything from berry-vanilla to Pina Colada taste – compare that with a large pill that is bitter and difficult to swallow. By drastically improving the patient experience, ODS increase patient adherence to treatment regimens and therefore clearly improve health outcomes – we are SAVING LIVES, ONE SQUARE INCH AT A TIME. ODS combine the advantages of liquid medications (e.g. effective delivery) with the advantages of medication in solid form (e.g. dosing and stability) without incurring any of the disadvantages of either. In addition, our ODS also avoid all of the disadvantages that either tablets/capsules or liquids have.
In addtion to ODS, we also reformulate pharmaceuticals into gummy products for pediatric use. For more information please follow the links below: