AesculaTech: Reverse Chocolate for Dry Eye
Kayleen Brown
Managing Editor, DeviceTalks ? Podcast Host ? Journalist ? Speaker & Moderator #MedTech #HealthTech #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #podcasts #MedicalDevices #WomeninMedTech
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Meet Andrew Bartynski, PhD. Andrew is co-founder of AesculaTech Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical device start-up developing a platform of temperature-responsive smart materials that can address opportunities in localized drug-delivery therapies, wound healing, tissue scaffolding, and additive manufacturing, to name a few. The company’s first product, AesculaGel, is a punctal plug for the treatment of dry eye syndrome. Applied as a liquid, it solidifies at body temperature and blocks tear ducts.
Andrew explains that there are “a number of environmental, age, and genetic factors that influence someone’s propensity for dry eye.” With over 64 million US patients collectively spending $3.5 billion a year treating dry eye symptoms and applying the syndrome’s first line of defense—over-the-counter eye lubricants more than five times per week—the cost to treat dry eye syndrome and the high rate of non-compliance has devalued traditional treatments. Even more concerning, an estimated 40 million of the compliant patients report the eye drops ineffective, resulting in five million opting for a punctual occlusion in search of relief.
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