Joe Landolina a 22 year-old , invented the VetiGel when he was just 17. VetiGel is an algae-based polymer gel that when applied to a wound the bleeding stops within seconds, and a promotes healing in minutes.
Joe Landolina is now the cofounder and CEO of a biotech company Suneris, the company that manufactures the VetiGel. Last week, Suneris announced that they would begin shipping the VetiGel to veterinarians later this summer, and VetiGel for humans will be the next in line for the company.
Landolina told Business Insider that: "The fastest piece of equipment we have measures every 12 seconds," Landolina also said: "So we know that it happens in less than 12 seconds."
An early version of VetiGel was invented by Landolina from his grandfather's lab. That happened when Landolina was still in high school.
When Landolina was a freshman in New York University, he teamed up with a junior and they made the gel an entry in a business competition. Landolina and his partner were the only undergraduates who entered, but they took second place from the competition. The tag team were up against graduate students and university professors.
Joe Landolina explained the science that makes this gel possible: "What that means, on the one hand, is that the gel will make a very strong adhesive that holds the wound together," Landolina also said: "But on the other hand, that mesh acts as a scaffold to help the body produce fibrin at the wound's surface."
A five-pack of 5-milliliter syringes that costs $150 will be the rollout of the product. Landolina said that Suneris plans to release the product first in the U.S., and then sometime early next year it will be in Europe and Asia.
VetPlus, a British company focused on animal medicine has partnered with Suneris, and are in the planning stage of manufacturing the product around the globe.
When FDA will approve the gel within the year for testing on human wounds, VetiGel will help first the military personnel and EMTs treat traumatic injuries. Then it will go to operating rooms and soon after in individual homes.
