Latest / StartUp Health NOW Podcast / Introducing the Smartphone Epinephrine Injector, by Detroit-Based Startup Alerje

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Introducing the Smartphone Epinephrine Injector, by Detroit-Based Startup Alerje · StartUp Health NOW Podcast

• 0:00
  [on-hold music] It's mandatory, actually, or strongly recommended from doctors to always carry your life-saving medication, which is the EpiPen, at all times.
• 0:18
  Mm. So I thought, "Hey, look, we can combine the best of two worlds, or all worlds, by combining the most ubiquitous device that we all carry with us, our cell phones, with a redesigned EpiPen."
• 0:27
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Startup Health NOW, the podcast where we celebrate the entrepreneurs and innovators reimagining the future of health. I'm Logan Plaster.
• 0:43
  For some people, allergies are an inconvenience. Sneezing, coughing, maybe you pop a Claritin-D when the pollen count is particularly high.
• 0:50
  But for millions of people around the world, particularly children, severe allergies are a major health concern. Eat the wrong thing, and you could go into anaphylactic shock. They also seem to be getting worse.
• 1:01
  According to one NIH study, there was a five-fold increase in peanut allergies in the UK over the last three decades. We've seen big bumps elsewhere as well.
• 1:11
  Tackling this growing problem is my guest on this episode, Javier Evelyn, the CEO and founder of Allergy, which joined Startup Health in 2020.
• 1:20
  Javier combined his personal experience suffering from severe allergies with his knowledge as a software developer to create an app and a device that administers epinephrine in order to make life a little easier and a little safer for folks with bad allergies.
• 1:34
  In our interview, we'll get into Javier's story, what he's built, and how this year the Detroit-based startup got a boost from Google. Stick around. [upbeat music] Great to connect with you.
• 1:51
  Um, let's just dive right into, to what you've built. One of the cool things about Allergy in terms of the Startup Health portfolio is that you've got a, you've got a physical product, a device. It's not just a platform.
• 2:01
  It, it's a platform plus something you can hold in your hand. So let's just start with that. What have you built? Yeah.
• 2:08
  So it started off with my own, uh, I'll say problems as somebody coming up as one of the more than 220 million people that are affected by severe, uh, multiple food allergies, right?
• 2:18
  Um, growing up, mom was a n- uh, a nurse, or becoming a nurse, lots of other healthcare professionals. But Logan, I was that hardheaded kid that wanted to be cool. Never carried my EpiPen or anything like it.
• 2:28
  Uh, so as time went on, fast-forward, I'm an adult, still a hardheaded, uh, adult my wife would say at this point. And we said...
• 2:35
  I said to myself, "There's gotta be a better way to kinda let this fit in the background," right?
• 2:38
  It's mandatory, actually, or strongly recommended from doctors to always carry your life-saving medication, which is the EpiPen, at all times. Mm.
• 2:45
  So I thought, "Hey, look, we can combine the best of two worlds, or all worlds, by combining the most ubiquitous device that we all carry with us, our cell phones, with a redesigned EpiPen. Kinda like this.
• 2:55
  Looks like a battery case for your phone slide, except you wanna save your own life.
• 2:58
  And essentially, once you kinda take it off from its case, um, within a couple seconds after removing it from that phone case, we're gonna notify the right people.
• 3:06
  You're gonna inject your leg, not my arm like we just did just yet, and we toss this out.
• 3:11
  And essentially just that protocol, uh, that we're kind of tapping into basically is gonna be us, uh, uh, notifying the right individuals, so your mom, dad, spouse, whomever needs to be notified about where you're at, what you're allergic to, and how to save your life, hazard information.
• 3:26
  So we're basically copy and pasting a physician-recommended protocol on the hardware side. And we also got some cool software that I'm sure we're gonna talk about throughout our conversation as well, too.
• 3:35
  So, um, started with scratching my own itch, and then we found that there was a big market. How many folks, uh, should be carrying an EpiPen close to them, uh, and aren't?
• 3:45
  Maybe it's in their glove, glove box or their backpack. I mean, really, you said 200 million people, or s- somewhere around there, have a severe allergy. Yeah.
• 3:54
  H- how many folks do you think aren't really having this life-saving, uh, medication close at hand? Yeah. So the last conversation of studies we came across was w- within the United States, there's 30-plus million folks.
• 4:06
  Mm. 220 million worldwide.
• 4:07
  And around 2/3 of patients and caregivers don't always carry their life-saving medication because it's clunky, uh, inconvenient to carry, and then quite frankly, you know, like I said earlier, there's that, that social stigma of making you stand out and feel different.
• 4:20
  Mm. And I think the world we live in now, that's even highlighted even more, right? Um, with all the social pressures, the social media bullying that goes on a lot, uh, within the food allergy space as well, too.
• 4:30
  So really our goal is to be, uh, especially now that I'm in that parent-ish age, you know, I don't want another me 2.0, right, that's gonna be living a life.
• 4:38
  Uh, so our goal is to make sure we build tools that are there when you need it and not when you don't, right?
• 4:42
  So, uh, Javier Junior or Logan Junior, whomever they meet, uh, can be out at brunch with their friends in the next couple of months when it's nice outside and go from brunch selfie to, "Oh my God, I put something in my...
• 4:53
  they put something in my dish." And within a couple seconds, um, the trigger, the protocol's been triggered, and we give a little bit more peace of mind to the right individuals, loved ones, et cetera. Okay.
• 5:02
  So you've got the hardw- hardware piece, which really helps it to be a- available 'cause we've all got our phones within, you know, arm's reach. Uh, but then there's the software side.
• 5:11
  And so I'm guessing something happens when you, uh, release the device and when you actually take the shot. So ta- talk to me about the software side. Yeah, for sure. So, you know, my background comes...
• 5:22
  I'm from Chicago originally, but our company was born in Detroit. Um, I made the reverse migration than most folks. Everybody, uh, in the past was leaving Detroit, but it's getting better these days.
• 5:31
  Um, it was really to kind of get started off as a software engineer, and I was really fortunate, Logan, to kind of get a crash course on what I call the triangle offense of healthcare.
• 5:40
  Remember, I'm a Chicago person, so that's an ode to Phil Jackson. [laughs] Um, but talking about your patients, payers, and providers.
• 5:45
  Uh, so, uh, from, uh, my time working on multiple, uh, mobile applications, from medication reconciliation apps all the way to HIPAA-compliant HEDIS apps, et cetera, I said that there may be a way to kinda streamlineA very specific niche, uh, uh, problem or solve it through this type of solution.
• 6:03
  Uh, so in addition to providing the alerts on our devices in market, we currently have the lifestyle app, which is basically the precursor to that alert mechanism application that, uh, Logan and myself...
• 6:14
  Anybody that has a food allergy or their kids can create a profile, again that's HIPAA compliant, so that it's shareable with the right individuals.
• 6:21
  So we're talking about recipes at this moment, we're talking about, uh, ghost restaurants as well to ensure that whether it's, uh, someone getting dropped off or babysitting down the road, again, different world we're in, to make sure there's a lot more peace of mind.
• 6:33
  And of course, when it comes to the holidays, a lot more communication. Because I think a lot of the times in our space, Logan, if you have a food allergy, this, this is life, right?
• 6:42
  We know that, "Hey, I got snacks on me at all times," et cetera, et cetera. How do we continue to, uh, educate as needed, even if it's on demand, those that are taking care of our kids and ourselves and, and the like.
• 6:54
  So again, the ability to navigate different recipes, et cetera, and we have some cool features down the road that are centered around restaurants as well. Got it. Got it.
• 7:02
  So while you have this hardware, it makes the EpiPen, uh, functionally e- you know, easy to grab. It's really a whole patient journey.
• 7:09
  It's got the recipes, it's got the, uh, care protocols, et cetera, from, s- from start to finish. Absolutely. Uh, tell me a little bit more about what... You mentioned starting your company in Detroit.
• 7:21
  What's the, what's the environment there for health innovation? What's your b- experience been like in Detroit? Man, Detroit's been amazing.
• 7:29
  You know, when you talk about support, and I think you're based on the East Coast over in, uh, in somewhere in, in a small city, rust belt- Baltimore. Yeah, Baltimore, man.
• 7:36
  So it's like y- you essentially get a chance to... There's so much, I will say, number one, it's the underdog mentality in this city, and I've always low-key had that. So- Yeah...
• 7:46
  I don't know if that's right or wrong, but it's what fuels some folks here. But beyond that, when you think about zoom- rewinding about 100-plus years, that was the Silicon Valley.
• 7:53
  This was the Silicon Valley of the world, right? All innovation from the auto space. And although it was auto-heavy back in the day, you still have your Big Three.
• 8:02
  Life sciences is actually having a moment right now in Michigan in general, and it's starting to trickle into the city of Detroit.
• 8:07
  So when you think about, uh, programs such as Scale Health, which is a, a extension of MedHealth.
• 8:13
  Uh, the MedHealth Summit was a, a cross-border initiative between Detroit as well as South, uh, uh, Sault Ontario, if I'm not mistaken, right?
• 8:20
  To ensure that we can kinda learn lessons from across the border and best practices, et cetera.
• 8:25
  Um, but beyond that, obviously we're not on the East or West Coast, so I truly believe that, um, the only silver lining, um, when you think about, uh, 2020 and the pandemic, is the fact that you have a lot more flyover, quote unquote, state capital.
• 8:39
  They're kinda dropping a couple packages as they fly over our states now, uh, which is not like a nice to have, but it's, it should've been that way in the first place.
• 8:46
  So I think as the funding catches up with the technical talent and grit that we typically have in the Midwest, I'm from Chicago, so it's copy and paste. I think we'll have a special moment.
• 8:55
  In fact, um, there's some big programs going on right now. Um, follow me on social @Javier, but, uh, you'll see that it's, it's having a moment.
• 9:03
  But I think from a healthcare perspective, it's starting to sprout up as we kind of are, you know, learning from other industries that have done it extremely well from a startup perspective all the way up into corporate America.
• 9:13
  I love it. Yeah, I think that that, I mean, coming from Baltimore, I think that, uh, that that underdog mentality really is a, a real thing in entrepreneurship. Uh, it gives people that, some grit.
• 9:24
  It creates community around what, what you're building, a certain pride, which is really helpful for the commitment you need. Absolutely.
• 9:31
  Uh, let's ta- let's talk a little bit about kinda where you're at, where Allergi's at in its, uh, entrepreneurial journey. I know that you were supported by Google for Startups.
• 9:41
  Tell us a little bit about that as a milestone, what that meant, what you learned. Yeah, for sure. So it came at a perfect time.
• 9:48
  Uh, obviously it was in the middle of the pandemic, um, things that happened to our brother George Floyd, who was lynched.
• 9:53
  Uh, so to see Google and other companies kinda step up to the plate and not just kinda put out hashtags. Startup Health was in the same bucket, making sure that we were supported as well, too.
• 10:02
  Around that same period, it was a great opportunity for us. For us, we were at a stage where we were in an inflection point.
• 10:08
  Beginning of last year was all about, hey, we're gonna do a series, uh, seed and kinda make the move in.
• 10:13
  But the market said something different because of the panic, and also we had some, uh, reflection opportunities as well, too, to kind of fine-tune and speed the market.
• 10:22
  So the GF, uh, GFS, Google Startups, uh, program was amazing. We got some grant, uh, awards, and beyond the, the financial piece, it was really about the support.
• 10:31
  Um, as you know, you're basically a founder, man, so as you talk to other folks that are in the same bucket as yourself, um, it's such a incredible value add to have support, whether it's Google ad support, which they showed so much love on.
• 10:43
  Shout out to Google again for that, Google Startups.
• 10:45
  And then obviously all the way towards connecting us with a cohort of individuals through Goodie Nation, as an example, out of Atlanta, um, that's doing some amazing things.
• 10:53
  So talking to other up-and-coming, uh, healthcare, digital health entrepreneurs to kinda trade notes.
• 10:59
  Uh, so collab- collectively, it was an incredible experience tailored to the individual, uh, with support from other folks from the Google ecosystem as well, too. So really timely for us.
• 11:09
  In fact, it also, um, came at a time where we were thinking about some new software, uh, from a B2B perspective, we'll talk about in a second, centered around oral immunotherapy, and that gave us, uh, the momentum to get into another pitch competition later on in Detroit, Detroit Demo Day, where we came in third place, um, um, supported by Quicken Loans, um, uh, the big company out of Detroit.
• 11:30
  And incredible experience. Uh, I think they have another one maybe coming soon, so if anybody that's out there that sees it, apply.
• 11:36
  Quality programming, quality individuals, and it just gives you an extension of your team with folks that really wanna see you win.
• 11:43
  And, um, I wouldn't-- I would definitely, uh, uh, do it again if we were given that opportunity. [laughs] Who wouldn't? It's Google. But for the, for the right reasons. Okay.
• 11:51
  And where do you-- where would you say the product is in terms of its maturity? Um, w- what are you i- in the market with, and what are you developing, uh, right now?Absolutely.
• 12:01
  So we do have our lifestyle app available in iOS and Android. We saw an uptick in downloads as well as ratings at around the George...
• 12:08
  or actually Juneteenth of last year, we did a nice session with Federal Official of Scientific and some other folks, FEI as well.
• 12:15
  Um, from a FDA perspective, um, after some drawbacks last year, we're looking to submit in the next... within the next 12 months at this point. We have a very, very clear pathway to market.
• 12:24
  And we're not just a device even though we're talking about the technology piece, it's really a drug delivery device, right? So because we lead with drug, it's approved as such.
• 12:32
  Uh, but being that we're not the first EpiPen or epinephrine auto-injector company, it's clear. So we found the right partners. That was one of the main things we got to make sure we got from a regulatory perspective.
• 12:43
  And with that, I feel like with all our cop powers environment, '80s babies, child... Uh, you know, that's... So that, that type of mentality, um, has allowed us to kind of move needle forward.
• 12:52
  So the next stages or steps towards commercializing our device, including, uh, the regulatory piece, would be solidifying our commercial partnerships.
• 13:01
  Uh, we're all about the David with Goliath as opposed to David versus Goliath, because we do wanna take advantage of the networks that are out there, and we think we can do it at scale, but it'll be easier and faster to do it.
• 13:12
  Uh, we're having some really, really interesting conversations even at the stage that we're at now. Um, one last piece. I, I mentioned that we have a separate software, again, that's available in iOS and Android.
• 13:21
  Um, the biggest, uh, I would say sub-area of food allergies coming out of the oral immunotherapy space. Okay. Um, all that is, your kid or anyone else that you know has a food allergy, you wanna kind of micro...
• 13:33
  I'm gonna keep it simple, but microdosing, let's say three milligrams, one for two weeks, six milligrams of peanut flour or peanuts, et cetera.
• 13:41
  So hopefully improve the threshold so that if you ever have cross-contamination, it's not as severe potentially, right? Um, there's no cure for peanut or for any type of food allergy, right?
• 13:50
  So this is the closest thing you have towards any type of success. Uh, the beginning of last year, the very first FDA-approved version of this came out, was approved by, uh, I believe Aimmune.
• 14:00
  They were acquired seven months later for a couple billion dollars by Nestle Health Science.
• 14:04
  So what that taught us, Logan, is that being that it got approved with an FDA asterisk mark, meaning that we still have to carry an EpiPen per their recommendations.
• 14:13
  You still need to manage this a certain way, and the communication needs to be there as well too.
• 14:17
  We saw a blind spot and an opportunity and got some IP around it and had some really interesting conversations with the leader in this space.
• 14:23
  So you mentioned earlier to us about not just being a, a reactive type of company. "Hey, something's going on, run to my device."
• 14:31
  This is where the proactive patient-driven design approach kinda kicks in, where we kinda make sure we tap into the audience, your patients, your parents, obviously the pharma companies, to make sure that we're in line.
• 14:40
  So in aggregate, we are commercially ready on our lifestyle app. Please download it free. For anyone watching this call, obviously, or this, uh, or this webinar, this call today to chat.
• 14:50
  Um, and obviously, we would love to have more additional conversations with other advocacy groups.
• 14:54
  We've talked with pretty much all of them, but obviously we'll share information and we'd love to get more folks involved with the upcoming, um, OIT, uh, uh, platform we have in the pipeline.
• 15:04
  I can make sure that all that download information is in the description. Yes.
• 15:08
  Uh, this is sort of pulling back a little bit from the, uh, micro to the macro, but where do you feel like we're at culturally in terms of our, uh, perspective on severe allergies?
• 15:21
  I feel like, I feel like over the last, you know, couple generations there have been cultural shifts about how we see, um... Like you just mentioned microdosing. You know, should we exposure?
• 15:32
  Should we expose children to, to these things so that the allergies are less severe? Um, are there dietary problems that we're causing some of these things?
• 15:41
  So kinda where do you feel like we're at now and, I don't know, and where does the technology sort of fit in and help us in that moment? I think that the food allergy, um...
• 15:51
  And obviously I'm biased, but being as close as I am to the market, I believe it's having a moment.
• 15:56
  Um, a couple years ago I got a chance to pitch in front of the Food Allergy Science Initiative backed by Harvard and MIT, so it was...
• 16:03
  We had this tech company with a bunch of biotech companies doing amazing science, uh, R, R, R&D type projects.
• 16:09
  And, you know, part of the discussion, um, someone from the NIH came out to kind of discuss the trends of, uh, public dollars going in other areas, right? Food allergy's pretty low.
• 16:18
  And when you kind of like map against, you know...
• 16:21
  Uh, if you kinda use that as a crystal ball, seeing that oh, all, all of a sudden that arrow or the hockey stick starting to go up in terms of additional funding, that kinda was an indication that the private dollar would follow, and that it's actually been expressed by the OIT companies and other food allergy adjacent companies.
• 16:37
  Uh, furthermore, um, there's been a sharp increase, uh, as it relates to food allergy insurance claims at about 377% over the course of like an 11-year period.
• 16:47
  So with that being said, it's one of those things that it needs to be addressed more.
• 16:51
  Um, I'll also say that the support groups and social media and other platforms, advocacy groups, um, I sit on the board of the, uh, diversity side of the board over at FAACT, F-A-A-C-T, one of the faster, uh, growing food allergy orgs that connects us with the patients, doctors, et cetera, and you hear so many stories.
• 17:09
  Um, although, as an example, just this week, uh, the... there are eight top allergies. The ninth one... This is a...
• 17:15
  Seeing from the outside, it may not seem significant, but if your kid has a sesame allergy, which was just approved by the White House to be officially declared as the ninth allergen, that's a huge milestone.
• 17:25
  So when you think about public to private dollars and the legislation starting to kick up a little bit, the online conversations, FARE is the top organization that's doing work in this space and other folks.
• 17:37
  I think we're having a good moment. And lastly, I'll say that even though I've said food allergy, food allergy, food allergy, really it's all about what the food allergy triggers, and that's anaphylactic shock, right?
• 17:48
  So the University of Michigan and some other folks are starting to run some trials. This is real early stuff.
• 17:52
  We're not involved with it, but kind of figuring out the small, uh, amounts of cases that vaccine related, um, anaphylaxis has come up. Um, is there something there?
• 18:01
  And how do we as a company, we're watching it very closely, how do we kind of help out those individuals as well?Very nice.
• 18:07
  Well, we're getting towards the end of our time, but the final question I wanna ask you, uh, has more to do with entrepreneurship.
• 18:14
  A lot of the folks who watch these videos are themselves, uh, entrepreneurs, uh, healthcare entrepreneurs. Uh, you, you know, manage your team there in Detroit.
• 18:23
  It comes with all of its own, uh, very interesting struggles. Uh, I know you moved offices, I think.
• 18:29
  So I wonder if you could just give a, just a piece of advice to fellow entrepreneurs about kinda how you stay, uh, focused and passionate, how you keep sort of the big moon shot, you know, final, uh, goal in mind when you're battered by sort of these day-to-day challenges of, of working in, uh, the startup community.
• 18:49
  Yeah. I think you nailed it, man. When you think about it, healthcare is not for the weak of heart.
• 18:53
  Um, I think it's said often that if you come in here only for the monetary, uh, possibilities, a fifth of the GDP roughly spent in this space, you can do it, but it's gonna be a long road, right?
• 19:03
  When you get that gut punch, things don't go your way, legislation doesn't go your way, it's more than just that. Um, I believe that taking the L as a lesson and not a loss is the very first piece to that.
• 19:14
  Before you even get there, right, if you're new to this space, um, especially I think this happens a lot in, with our tech bro- uh, tech brothers and sisters that are coming into the space, um, yes, you can move fast and break things, but if you do that, it may not get fixed in healthcare depending [laughs]
• 19:28
  upon, uh, the route you're going. Uh, so come in with humbleness, and come in with the understanding that you don't have all the answers even though your technology may be fascinating.
• 19:36
  Uh, getting the clinical folks, getting stakeholders involved. One of the first folks I read was a Stanford Biodesign book to really get a baseline information or, or understanding of how this thing actually works.
• 19:46
  So I believe those combinations, and lastly, um, my personal, I'll say, a, a, a motto as well as one of our core values, you adapt and attack, right?
• 19:56
  Uh, so at the beginning of last year, we had one strategy, but as time went on, COVID took over, and this, and rightfully so, right? So from an FDA perspective, everything shifted. What do you do as a company?
• 20:07
  Uh, so adapting and attacking kept us strong and relevant. And, um, other than that, make sure you just get out there. Um, but those are the, some of my key things.
• 20:15
  The main one is take that, that lesson as a, as the, the L as a lesson, not a loss. There's nothing you can't do. It's the evergreen mentality. I love it. I love it. Adapt and attack. It's a...
• 20:24
  I, I'm, I'm guessing you played sports growing up. Seems like a sports metaphor. [laughs] Adapt and attack. All right. Uh, Javier, great to talk to you. Great to hear what's going on with Allergy.
• 20:33
  I'm definitely gonna be watching in 2021, uh, as you all, um, continue to, to roll out awesome products and your platform and looking at that FDA, uh, process. So thanks for taking the time today.
• 20:46
  Thanks so much, Logan, and shout out to Startup Health for the opportunity as well. [upbeat music] Thanks for listening to Startup Health NOW.
• 20:58
  Startup Health invests in health transformers from around the world who are committed to achieving audacious health moon shots.
• 21:04
  If you wanna learn how you can join this community of entrepreneurs, or if you wanna connect with one of our 350 companies, go to startuphealth.com.
• 21:12
  If you'd like to learn how you can invest in our health moon shot rolling fund in collaboration with AngelList, go to healthmoonshots.com. Thanks for listening to Startup Health NOW.