US breakthrough for eczema treatment
After seven long years, a Kiwi scientist’s natural eczema treatment has finally got the green light for the United States market.
Binona’s Atopis topical eczema cream is claimed as be natural enough to be eaten and could even be used to treat dogs.
Binona chief executive Iona Weir, a biochemist, said the cream contained extracts of bee pollen, coconut, honeydew and cultured bacteria found in New Zealand forests.
‘‘I wanted to create something completely natural, but that could still get proven results from robust clinical tests on humans,’’ Weir said.
The Atopis skincare range already garnered customers from the Europe and Australia shopping on its website, but cracking the US was harder. In the coming months, growing the market there will remain a key focus, she said.
The US accreditation was a coup for her company.
‘‘The US is a very large market. My expectations are realistic because it’s going to be very competitive and a lot of hard work. Eczema treatment is a multibillion dollar market in the US and we now have the opportunity to be part of it.’’
The cream, along with other products in the Atopis range, will be sold on Amazon early next year. The products will also be manufactured in California.
For Weir, this launch has been the culmination of more than 30 years of research. In 2015 she received a Callaghan Innovation grant for the product’s second clinical trial.
‘‘It’s taken a long time to get here. We’ve gone through the world’s most rigorous clinical testing to prove that this is a natural product which actually works.’’