Have you seen Botched? It’s a reality show about two plastic surgeons who struggle to repair tissue after surgeries—fighting voids, failed grafts and poor blood flow. It’s TV drama but the problems are real. Every day, surgeons face chronic wounds, tissue loss from biopsies and Mohs procedures, and complex reconstructions after trauma or cancer. Current collagen products often fail—they trigger inflammation, break down too fast and don’t restore function. GeniPhys solves this with Collymer SAS, a polymerizable collagen scaffold that mimics natural tissue, revascularizes quickly and integrates without immune rejection. In June 2025, GeniPhys earned FDA 510(k) clearance for wound care, removing a key regulatory risk. A commercial distribution partnership is now in development for a mid-2026 launch.
The market is huge, the technology is validated, and the timing is right. CEO Andy Eibling will present to the VisionTech Screening Committee Friday, August 29 at 12 noon. Enjoy the preview!
BP: GeniPhys has a Purdue connection with founder Sherry Harbin. How did she get started with GeniPhys? What pain point did she see?
AE: Our founder and chief scientific officer, Sherry Harbin, is a professor of Biomedical Engineering and Basic Medical Sciences, at Purdue University. She has more than 30 years of experience in developing regenerative biomaterials. In fact, during her time at Purdue, Dr. Harbin helped develop a collagen-based product for wound healing that was eventually licensed to Cook Medical and others.
Early on, Dr. Harbin saw opportunities in human tissue regeneration. When human tissue is damaged due to injury, disease or surgical procedure like a biopsy, the healing response is initiated. Unfortunately, our bodies have limited capacity for tissue regeneration in part because of our cells’ inability to efficiently produce sufficient collagen. Without the key structural scaffold, scarring and fibrosis are common. She believed there had to be a better approach than the current decellularized tissue matrices technologies. So she set out to see if she could replicate the body’s ability to generate a functional collagen matrix. That work led to the founding of GeniPhys in 2004 and to our flagship product, Collymer SAS.
BP: Let’s talk about Collymer SAS. What makes it a “first of its kind” polymerizable (scaffold-forming) collagen?
AE: Collymer SAS represents a polymerizable collagen protein that is free from cellular and other immunogenic components. It capitalizes on the unique self-assembly and structural signaling properties of natural collagen produced in our bodies, recreating the structural and biological signaling features of human collagen. Our studies show that surrounding tissue cells recognize scaffolds and materials formed from Collymer, which allows the natural processes of cellularization, vascularization and innervation—the things needed for healthy, fully functioning tissue—to begin. The scaffold enables the restoration of soft tissue defects and voids in fat, muscle, skin, and breast tissue.
BP: Why doesn’t the body reject it?
AE: Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals. It is also highly conserved, which means that across species, it is very similar. Porcine collagen is over 95% similar to human collagen from an amino acid sequence standpoint. So as long as the material doesn’t contain any other “contaminants” or immunologic components, the body recognizes it as collagen.
BP: What are the advantages of Collymer SAS?
AE: There are three major advantages of our patented Collymer-based materials. Collymer molecules will aggregate into a collagen scaffold that is identical to the scaffold in the human body. Due to Collymer’s purity, it does not evoke a foreign body response and the associated inflammation that other materials will. As a biopolymer, we can engineer Collymer materials into products with different mechanical properties.
BP: Your pre-clinical results are impressive.
AE: We don’t make claims without verified performance. To that end, Dr. Harbin has run more than 50 preclinical studies assessing different types of Collymer materials in different species and tissue types. Her work has confirmed that Collymer provides the critical “building block” for new tissue, and has evidence of soft tissue growth, skeletal muscle growth and bone growth. I often cite the lumpectomy study, as it not only meets a key need and is a focus for GeniPhys, but represents how effectively the material supports the regrowth of site-appropriate tissue.
BP: What verticals are you targeting and how large are the markets?
AE: Our beachhead market is wound care. There are more than eight million patients in the United States with hard-to-heal wounds. CMS alone spends $32 billion on wound care annually. The impact on patients is terrible because they endure repeat procedures because most wound care products don’t work. Our Collymer SAS promotes faster tissue healing and new tissue formation in a single application. We are shooting for a July 2026 launch. What’s exciting is this initial launch will generate revenue, but perhaps more important, drive a significant value inflection point.
Looking ahead, we’re targeting submitting FDA submissions on two follow-on markets in 2027. The first is a soft tissue filler for restoration after tumor removal, traumatic injury and reconstructive surgery. Collymer SAS fills the void and promotes tissue growth and revascularization. This is a large market opportunity—more than $1 billion—and we’re a first-in-class product. The second is a dermal filler for the aesthetics. market, which is a massive self-pay market.
BP: Where are you in terms of regulatory approval and commercialization?
AE: We reached a major milestone is achieving 510(k) clearance for our initial product and indication, wound care, earlier this summer. The wound care space is very challenging from a reimbursement and commercialization standpoint, so our strategy from the beginning is to partner with a firm that is already present in the space to leverage their capabilities and expertise. We have a draft term sheet from one potential partner, and a second potential partner has reached out to us. Having a partner that can handle all the commercialization activities allows us to focus on the development of our next indications for Collymer SAS.
BP: What kind of IP protection do you have?
AE: We have 18 approved and pending patents that protect composition of matter, methods of use, and process patents. Our IP protects the various formats of our material, as well as many applications of Collymer. We have solid protection through 2041 and continue to work to develop and prosecute new IP.
BP: What response have you gotten from medical professionals?
AE: Physicians across a variety of specializations are clamoring for the material. Our current investor group includes a plastic surgeon, a general surgeon, and a podiatrist who specializes in reconstructive work. Our breast cancer surgeon collaborator is anxious to get into the clinic for the lumpectomy indication. There’s been so little innovation in this space, and much over hyping, that when physicians see something truly novel that will give them a new tool to use with patients, they get very excited.
BP: What kind of competition are you facing?
AE: Honestly, the strength of collagen in general is part of our greatest challenge. What I mean by that is that we constantly have to re-educate people and show them the data, so they understand that Collymer SAS is not just another collagen product. This is why getting to human data will be so beneficial for us.
BP: What round is this and what is your planned use of funds?
AE: This is our second priced funding rounds and we’re targeting $7.5 million. This will support all remaining launch-related activities for wound care. The largest part of this is the process validation work that our fill/finish CMO has to execute. We’ve run the company very leanly to this point, with only five full-time employees. We’ll have to expand that to be a successful commercial stage company, so our headcount will grow.
BP: Give me three reasons why VisionTech investors should write checks to GeniPhys?
AE: Sure! First, given the derisking on the regulatory and commercial side, our path to revenue and exit is very enticing to investors. And we’ve got the right team of employees, consultants, and partners to do it. Second, this technology has such great versatility and breadth that the company’s valuation will grow quickly and significantly once we get to our first market. Finally, this is an impact investment. These patients have huge needs, and our Collymer technology has the ability to improve millions of lives. As my wife is fond of saying, we will be long gone before the full impact of Collymer is achieved.
Don’t miss the first ever VisionTech’s Virtual Pitch Event on Friday, August 29 starting at 12 noon. You will be treated to pitches by GeniPhys CEO Andy Eibling and a second presenter TBD. Expect great investment opportunities and lively, open discussion post pitch. Advance registration is required, Here’s the link.
VisionTech pitch events are open to member-investors. Guest participants are welcome with advance approval from VisionTech Executive Director Ben Pidgeon. Email him here.
