For some, allergies are seasonal illnesses that can bring a slight annoyance to their day. In the case of others, allergies can become a serious issue.
"My symptoms, it was so bad I couldn’t sleep over the night because my nose was completely congested," said former Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Cliff Han. "I couldn’t function in the daytime because of that. And I didn’t know why I got allergies."
Rather than take the prognosis sitting down, Han began taking saliva samples. And in testing the samples taken before and after allergies had set in and gone away, Han said he found that two groups of bacteria seemingly calm the immune system when present. That happens due to certain chemical signals the bacteria produce, alleviating the symptoms of sinus allergies.
Han also found that with a certain formula he could stimulate the growth of such bacteria and provide a natural combatant for allergies. In 2017, he patented the formula, which is the basis for his company called AllerPops, a retailer of lollipops containing the formula.
"This system by nature is the base of how our body actually reacts or works together with the bacterial world," Han said.
The lollipops are available at eight stories scattered throughout Los Alamos, Corrales, Santa Fe and Illinois, according to AllerPops's website. A dozen AllerPops lollipops can be bought for about $25.
AllerPops has raised roughly $1 million, about three-quarters of which came out of Han's own pockets. Crowdfunders on virtual funding platform Wefunder contributed an additional $258,000, and the company is also raising another round. A total of 296 investors contributed to the crowdfunding raise, according to Wefunder.
Moving forward, the company will need an additional $300,000 for clinical trials, which Han said has already begun.
