Under the Microscope: Candesant Biomedical
Why Avestria Invested in this Excessive Sweating-Focused Startup
In this series, we explain why we invested in our current portfolio companies. In the process, we hope to highlight the white spaces in women’s health and the life sciences — as well as the people, products, and companies working to fill those gaps. The name “Under the Microscope” refers both to our extensive due diligence process and our investment focus on healthcare and the life sciences.
Imagine you’re in your car one morning on the way to work. The air-conditioning is on, it’s a beautiful day — but, once you arrive at your desk, you realize that you’ve still sweated through your shirt. Do you try to cover up the stains? Do you try to find a change of clothes? Do you try to avoid contact with your coworkers, hoping they won’t notice?
The 15.3 million people in the United States who have hyperhidrosis — or excessive sweating that isn’t caused by just heat or exercise — have to ask themselves these questions on a regular basis. While excessive sweating can be due to a health condition or issue (such as diabetes, menopause, obesity, or an overactive thyroid gland), most cases are primary idiopathic, meaning they have no known cause. Since hyperhidrosis can also start as early as childhood, those with the condition have to deal with regular episodes — for most of their lives — of excessive sweating in one or more places throughout their bodies, most commonly the underarms (axillary hyperhidrosis), face/head (craniofacial hyperhidrosis), hands/palms (palmar hyperhidrosis), and feet (plantar hyperhidrosis).
The result is a huge effect on quality of life. Two studies of adults in the United States, conducted by the International Hyperhidrosis Society (IHHS) and Harris Interactive, found that many respondents believed sweating in public to be equally or more embarrassing than having stage fright, body odor, severe acne, or an open fly. To try to prevent or hide sweat — and thus mitigate the emotional and physiological damage of excessively sweating — 70% of respondents reported adjusting their lives. For example, out of those with axillary hyperhidrosis, 35% avoid raising their arms, 12% carry additional clothing, and 11% change clothes several times daily. such as being in enclosed or crowded spaces like elevators, shaking hands or giving hugs, navigating touchscreens, using cash, or even reading books since they might soak the book’s pages. In total, half of that study’s participants felt that hyperhidrosis had restricted their lives.
Despite the negative effects on their everyday activities, many individuals with hyperhidrosis don’t seek out treatment. As reported in a 2016 study, under half of adults discussed their level of sweating with a healthcare professional and, ultimately, only 27% have been diagnosed, leaving the vast majority of sufferers (73%) undiagnosed. 47% of sufferers also believe there are no treatment options available.
Despite that belief, treatment options for hyperhidrosis do exist — but they vary in their cost, ease of use, efficacy, and side effects. First-line treatments, which include prescription antiperspirants and medications need to be taken daily, aren’t always effective, and can result in unpleasant side effects, like dry eyes or a dry mouth. Non-daily treatments, such as Botox injections and microwave therapy (treatments with a microwave energy-based device), have their own drawbacks: they can be costly, invasive, and time-consuming in their own right, requiring multiple appointments as well as the appropriate preparation time before and recovery time after each session.
Candesant Biomedical aims to provide an easy, effective, and non-invasive treatment for excessive sweating.
Candesant is first focused on addressing primary axillary hyperhidrosis (or excessive underarm sweat), which accounts for more than half of hyperhidrosis cases in the United States and affects 33% of U.S. adults (85.2 million people) total: diagnosed or undiagnosed. Candesant’s FDA-cleared, IP-protected Brella™ SweatControl™ patch is placed under the arm for no more than three minutes. There, it utilizes a foundational scientific principle known as targeted alkali thermolysis: heat is generated when sodium comes in contact with water in sweat. The thermal energy created by the sodium sheet is precisely localized, microtargeting sweat glands to reduce sweat production significantly. Candesant’s pivotal trial of 110 adults with primary axillary hyperhidrosis achieved its primary and secondary endpoints — for example, significantly reducing sweat production and improving quality of life — and was well tolerated, with no serious or severe adverse events reported at any time by any study participant. It also demonstrated that Brella™ -treated participants maintained their sweat reduction for three months. Some maintained their sweat reduction for longer than that period as well.
The hyperhidrosis treatment market may reach $2.1 billion by 2027. Candesant, though, is looking beyond the diagnosed hyperhidrosis market to those undiagnosed but bothered by their excessive underarm sweating. While approximately 5% of Americans report having hyperhidrosis, many hyperhidrosis experts believe these numbers are an underestimation because the condition is underreported and underdiagnosed. The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS) found 58% of respondents bothered by excessive sweating.
Candesant’s Brella™ SweatControl™ patch will be available for consumers in a quick, in-office treatment in a way that other excessive sweating treatments, such as prescription antiperspirants or Botox injections, currently aren’t. Plus, unlike other non-invasive treatment options, Candesant’s patch doesn’t require constant reapplication: just a single treatment in which the patch is applied under the arm, is removed after about three minutes, and doesn’t require any recovery time on the patient’s end.
We believe Candesant not only offers a more affordable, faster, and less invasive approach to hyperhidrosis than current treatments do but also pinpoints another group, the undiagnosed hyperhidrosis patients currently getting aesthetic treatments whose needs haven’t been diagnosed or addressed. As a result of Candesant’s Brella™ SweatControl™ patch, the millions of people who struggle with their level of sweat may no longer have to worry about sweating through their clothes, avoiding contact with others, or generally adjusting their lives. Instead, they may be able to take advantage of an easy and effective three-minute treatment — as well as its lasting effects on their quality of life.
At Avestria Ventures, we look for early-stage women’s health and female-led life science companies with products or technologies that improve healthcare quality and/or access, lower costs, induce clinical or behavioral change, are evidence based, have scalable commercialization plans, and have a sustainable competitive advantage. Know one? Contact us via our website, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
