Health
Emergency services are continuously under pressure to decrease the time between accident and treatment, yet many of the basic treatment tools available to first response teams have not improved for decades – especially bandaging technology.
Using biomolecular and chemical engineering knowledge, Joe Landolina, who was a college freshman at the time, formulated ‘Vetigel’ - a gloopy biomaterial that stops severe bleeding of skin and organs in approximately 20-30 seconds.
The Algae-based gel is applied directly to a skin breach and consists of a matrix structure which the skin cells ‘recognise’ and instantly work with to begin clotting the blood. Unlike other fast clotting products currently being developed, Vetigel is reported to work without the need for external pressure to assist the clotting.
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The first trials of Vetigel took place during 2015 with the product shipped to one hundred veterinary clinics for use in animal biopsies and dental extractions. Mr. Landolina’s biotech company, Suneris, is hoping to receive FDA approval for human use this year.
Whether used for military situations or domestic incidents, one of the proposed benefits of the gel is the potential for anyone - including the trauma victims themselves - to apply the product quickly with little or no training.
Mr. Landolina grew up on an Upstate New York vineyard owned by his grandfather. The former chemist allowed his grandson to get creative in the vineyard labs after school, making wine and other mixtures.
In his freshman year the former NYU student teamed up with friend and Suneris CFO, Isaac Miller, to enter the Vetigel prototype into a competition, winning a first prize of $10,000.
As the pair moved toward graduation they entered into 40-hour workweeks to develop the product whilst completing classes outside of work time. Suneris now has a team of 16 people working to fully develop a ‘band-aid of the future’.
