VetiGel and its implications
Joe Landolina, a student from New York University (NYU), may have invented a gel that will cure traumatic bleeding. Suneris, a biomedical engineering company which was founded by Landolina, who is now CEO, is the organization behind VetiGel. In just 15 seconds, the gel, which has plant-based haemophilic polymers made from polysaccharides, stops massive amounts of blood bleeding out as a result of traumatic injury.
The company explains on their webpage just how they stop the bleeding exactly: “Three aspects of hemostasis, [the stopping of flow of blood], are enhanced to quickly and effectively stop bleeding. Immediately after application, our gel stimulates the clotting process by physically holding pressure in the damaged blood vessel. The gel then rapidly activates the accumulation of platelet mesh. Our gel completes hemostasis by accelerating the binding of the clotting protein, fibrin, to the platelet mesh, resulting in blood coagulation and a stable clot.”
Currently a third-year student from Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Landolina came up with the concept when he was only 17, back in 2010.
“I was always interested in science, and my grandfather owned a winery, so, from a really young age I learned how to work in a chemistry lab and had a love for chemistry,” said Landolina to IBTimes UK.
The gel is thought to speed up the body’s natural clotting behaviour so that even haemorrhaging arteries or internal organs can be closed up in seconds. Early research on the substance is promising, as researchers have been able to stop bleeding liver injuries and punctures in carotid arteries. No human trials have been conducted yet, however.
The gel has not yet won Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval as a new medical product. Additionally, VetiGel is still two years away from being approved, meaning a long wait is expected before it is released to market.
However, Suneris has planned to begin to sell VetiGel to veterinarian clinics in the meantime while waiting for the approval. For Landolina, this will act as an opportunity to save animals, get real word application, as well as acquire funding that is difficult to come by for new biomedical companies.
“Our goal is to get this in every ambulance, in every soldier’s belt, and in every mom’s purse,” commented Landolina to Bloomberg News.
The implications of VetiGel are very interesting to think about, however, further study and research is still necessary.