NeuEsse

NeuEsse develops plant-based skin repair technologies, offering human skin substitutes derived from soybean protein. Its products, including OmegaSkin™ and liquid QuikSkin™, are applied via a proprietary portable electrospinner. This technology promotes natural healing for various acute and chronic skin conditions, providing regenerative dermal repair solutions.

Joseph P. Connell founded NeuEsse approximately nine years ago, inspired by natural sources for dermal repair. Leveraging over 38 years in pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales and executive management, Connell established the company. His vision focused on creating non-animal, water-soluble skin substitutes, addressing limitations of traditional treatments.

NeuEsse’s solutions serve wound care clinics, hospitals, aesthetic dermatology, and military medical applications. The company aims to establish a new standard in dermatological care by delivering effective, accessible, and naturally derived alternatives for skin regeneration. Its mission is to improve patient outcomes through advancing natural wound healing globally.

# NeuEsse: High-Level Overview

NeuEsse Inc. is a medical device company developing plant-based skin substitutes to treat wounds, burns, and chronic skin injuries.[1] The company's flagship product, OmegaSkin, is a human skin substitute derived from soy protein designed to provide cost-effective wound healing with minimal scarring.[1][5] NeuEsse serves hospitals, wound clinics, nursing homes, and physician offices, targeting patients with acute and chronic skin injuries including diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers (bedsores), and severe burns.[1][7]

The company's core value proposition centers on delivering superior clinical outcomes at a fraction of the cost of existing competitors.[1] By leveraging sustainable, plant-based materials rather than traditional synthetic or animal-derived alternatives, NeuEsse positions OmegaSkin as both clinically effective and economically attractive to healthcare providers. The business model relies on hospital purchasing contracts and direct sales to clinics, with the strategy of undercutting competitor pricing while maintaining equivalent insurance reimbursement rates.[1]

# Origin Story

NeuEsse was founded by Joe Connell, a serial entrepreneur and veteran healthcare executive who has created seven startups and taken one public in regenerative medicine.[4] Connell's founding motivation is deeply personal: as a 10-year-old boy from Connellsville, Pennsylvania, he suffered severe burns covering over 30% of his body, with his leg burned to the bone requiring 360 skin grafts.[1] Doctors believed he would never walk again—a prognosis he defied. This lived experience of severe skin injury and recovery directly informed his mission to create better solutions for wound care.

The company's technology is built on research partnerships with established institutions. NeuEsse holds an exclusive license to a portfolio of patents from Temple University and benefits from ongoing research at Carnegie Mellon University focused on delivering stem cells and growth factors.[1] The company gained early validation by winning the BoomStartUp pitch competition and subsequently securing $30,000 in funding across two rounds, including a Business Plan Competition award from the Soy Innovation Challenge in May 2024.[2]

# Core Differentiators

• Plant-based material science: OmegaSkin uses soy protein rather than synthetic or animal-derived alternatives, offering a sustainable, vegan-friendly approach to skin substitution.[1]

• Superior clinical outcomes: Full-thickness wound studies demonstrate healing with minimal scarring, and patients retain functional hair follicles and sweat glands—advantages over conventional bandages that leave thick, slick scars.[1][7]

• Cost advantage: The product costs orders of magnitude less to produce than competitors while maintaining the same clinical efficacy and insurance reimbursement rates, enabling aggressive pricing strategies.[1]

• Institutional backing: Exclusive patent licenses from Temple University and research partnerships with Carnegie Mellon University provide technological credibility and ongoing innovation pathways.[1]

• Pipeline diversity: Beyond sheet-form OmegaSkin, the company is developing a liquid sprayable variant for touch-free application to wounds, ulcers, and burns.[7]

# Role in the Broader Healthcare Landscape

NeuEsse operates at the intersection of two significant healthcare trends. First, the aging of the baby boomer generation is creating unprecedented demand for wound care solutions—the population aged 65 and older is projected to grow from 38.8 million in 2008 to 94.7 million by 2060, driving chronic conditions like pressure ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers.[7] Second, there is growing market interest in sustainable, plant-based medical technologies that reduce reliance on animal-derived products and synthetic materials.

The company's timing is advantageous: healthcare systems face mounting pressure to reduce costs while improving patient outcomes, and NeuEsse's value proposition directly addresses both imperatives. By offering equivalent clinical performance at significantly lower cost, the company can disrupt traditional wound care markets dominated by higher-priced competitors. The regulatory pathway—including CE Marking for European sales—positions NeuEsse to scale internationally.[1]

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

NeuEsse is at an early but promising stage of commercialization. With only $30,000 raised to date, the company remains pre-revenue and pre-scale, but the founder's track record, institutional partnerships, and compelling clinical data suggest meaningful growth potential.[2] The next critical milestones are completing clinical trials, securing manufacturing capacity, and achieving regulatory approvals (particularly CE Marking for European markets).[1]

The company's future hinges on execution in three areas: demonstrating consistent clinical efficacy in larger patient populations, establishing reimbursement pathways with major healthcare systems, and scaling manufacturing to meet hospital demand. If successful, OmegaSkin could capture meaningful market share in the multi-billion-dollar wound care industry by offering a genuinely differentiated product at a lower price point. The founder's personal story—transforming a near-fatal injury into a mission to help others—adds a compelling narrative dimension that resonates in healthcare entrepreneurship, potentially attracting both capital and talent as the company scales.