Our Founding Story
A Slippery problem and a novel solution
A Slippery Problem and a Novel Solution
Dr. Mark Miller is an immunologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He uses two-photon microscopy and computational biology to understand cellular immune mechanisms during immunization, inflammation and infection. His favorite aspects of basic research are the creative problem solving and the potential to uncover something new that disrupts the scientific status quo.
He is also an avid tennis player who struggled for years with sweaty hands. Sometimes his grip slip was merely annoying and made him miss shots he should have made. Sometimes it was so bad that the racket would fly out of his hands, which was equally embarrassing and a danger to himself and others. This led him to use a “death grip” on the racket, causing blisters on his hands and repetitive stress injuries to his joints and muscles. He tried various over-grips, grip enhancer products, and even rotated between three rackets during matches, but eventually (and especially in the STL summers) his grip became slippery, and tennis became frustrating and painful. Then after a lucky stroke of inspiration and a bit of self experimentation, he found a novel solution that quickly dries the hands and enhances grip… and Gobi Grip™ was born!
He also knew that sweat was more than just an annoyance during sports activities. For millions of people that suffer from primary focal hyperhidrosis, excessive sweating interferes with their work and social activities, and decreases their quality of life. To address this need, Miller Biosciences LLC is developing a prescription strength product, called PerspirSeal™. Following FDA clearance, PerspirSeal™ will be marketed as a first in class of topical polymer film antiperspirant device for treating severe palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis.
