Anyone who’s ever stepped foot in a dentist’s office or walked by the pretzel stand at the mall recognizes the link between scent and the brain.
Aromatherapy, then, logically makes sense. But proving scientifically that certain smells can calm people, or help people fall asleep, is a different story.
While it’s been around since ancient times and nearly “everyone’s dabbled in it,” entrepreneur Mark Kohoot said aromatherapy products haven’t been widely adopted in hospitals because evidence of their effectiveness to this point has been mostly anecdotal. To really get traction in the clinical setting the way that therapeutic drugs and devices do, a company needs scientific data attached to its product, but because of the nature of aromatherapy and how it’s administered, conducting properly structured clinical trials has been a challenge.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Aeroscena, the Cleveland startup that Kohoot heads, thinks it’s found a way to enable randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials by packaging essential oils into individualized, pocket-sized sachets for personal use.
The company creates blends of all-natural essential oils that can be used in a diffuser to calm stress, control appetite, induce sleep and reduce nausea, but the real market opportunity lies in the proprietary sachets it’s designed.
Sachets containing a blend for nausea relief are being tried in a double-blind study at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C., and Kohoot said the company is in talks with Veterans Affairs on customizing a blend to be tested in post-traumatic stress disorder.
As the company looks for a bridge round of financing in anticipation of a long-term capital raise, it’s also running a campaign on the healthcare crowdfunding site MedStartr to help fund the Children’s National trial.
Kohoot said the movement toward organic foods, “green” ways and holistic medicine has opened the door for traditional therapies like aromatherapy to really take off. The Ascents sachets are already being sold in local health food stores around the Cleveland area for $5 a pop and at retail shops at the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic.
Founded in 2010, Aeroscena received seed money from Clinic Wellness chief Dr. Michael Roizen and has attracted some other reputable names to its advisory board. Roizen’s daughter, Jennifer, a postdoctoral fellow in organic chemistry at Stanford University, also sits on the board along with Dr. Tanya Edwards, the head of integrative medicine at the Clinic, and Dr. Howard Levine, the vice president of medical affairs at Acclarent, the maker of Balloon Sinuplasty devices for use by surgeons in sinusitis patients.
The startup has its work cut out for itself in establishing the market for clinical aromatherapy, but on the plus side, it’s a market where there’s no existing brand leader, Kohoot said. “We’re going to own clinical aromatherapy.”
