Pure Hyaluronic Acid      

Company says compounds soothe joints, smooth skin

Date: 9th December 2008, Source: Hyaluronic News

It's in your joints and behind your eyeballs, and Calcigen produces it at its lab in Bethlehem.

Not many people will know the substance is called hyaluronic acid, or that it is harvested from both the combs of roosters and from bacteria. It also occurs naturally in the body. But consumers, especially aging baby boomers, will be interested to learn Calcigen is producing a refined formula of it that is designed to ease inflammation and pain in joints, and in a separate application, smooth out wrinkles in skin.

The four-person startup company, which resides in the Ben Franklin Technology Partners business incubator, hopes to eventually market the solution as a way to deliver cancer drugs.

''It's an almost mythical material used in a wide variety of applications,'' said Calcigen President Harlan Hemple.

Like collagen, hyaluronic acid restores elasticity to the skin. The most widely-known hyaluronic acid product on the market is Restylane, which is used to smooth over wrinkles.

Calcigen is developing two products that target distinct markets: wrinkles and osteoarthritis. The skin-smoother and joint-fluid products are based on the same compound — hyaluronic acid — but differ in molecular weight, viscosity and other aspects.

While the market for products that smooth wrinkles is large, the demand for osteoarthritis treatment also represents a sizeable sales opportunity. More than 20 million Americans have osteoarthritis, and the number is expected to grow significantly as the population ages. Osteoarthritis breaks down the surface layer of cartilage, which, when healthy, allows bones to glide over one another and absorbs the shock of movements.

Calcigen's product is designed to supplement fluids in the knee and to stave off joint replacement surgery.

''With osteoarthritis, the fluid in the joints has broken down,'' Hemple said. ''You are using hyaluronic acid to replace diseased fluid in the knee. Everyone wants to avoid knee or joint replacement for as long as possible.''

Hemple said that until now, products designed to treat osteoarthritis have been injected solely into knees. Researchers are looking into using the products to treat joints in shoulders and hips.

Rivals on market

Calcigen receives hyaluronic acid in a powder form. In the lab, Hemple mixed the white powder with water and, almost instantly, a clear, sticky substance formed that resembled hair gel. The acid can absorb 1,000 times its weight in water. For use, it is placed in a syringe and injected directly into the skin.

There are a handful of similar products on the market, including Synvisc. But Hemple says his product is safer, more effective and has fewer negative side effects.

Calcigen employs a purification process to hyaluronic acid that removes a higher number of toxins, he said, and renders the substance more viscous. That's a key characteristic. Researchers believe hyaluronic acid could eventually be used for cancer treatment because the substance binds quickly to cancer cells. That means drugmakers could attach cancer medicine to hyaluronic acid to more effectively target the affected cells.

Calcigen is not selling either of its two products yet. The company is negotiating a licensing and distribution deal with one company for the injectable wrinkle-smoothing product. It is in talks with several companies to distribute the joint-fluid supplement product. Calcigen is also discussing licensing its solution to a major company for use in the treatment of cataracts.

Hemple would not disclose names of the companies because the deals are not finalized.

Venture funding

Hemple is not a biologist but a former poultry industry worker who learned about the potential of hyaluronic acid in rooster combs while on the job. He formed Calcigen in 2000 at a home office in Philadelphia. The company's three other employees include Mike Bernbaum, chief science officer.

In 2002, Hemple moved his company into the Ben Franklin business incubator at Lehigh University. Ben Franklin provides low-interest loans and cheap office and lab space to promising startup companies. It also assists existing companies.

Since its founding, Calcigen has raised almost $1 million in investment. That includes about $400,000 from Ben Franklin and $100,000 from the Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania. The company is eager to raise more. Hemple hit the venture capital circuit last week with a presentation at Bio-Life-Tech in Baltimore. The conference showcased early stage companies to venture capitalists looking for the next big investment.