‘This product can change people’s lives’: RadiQuell inventor pushes soothing gel to market
After 16 years of development and a cancer diagnosis, retired ETSU biochemist Andy Clark is racing to bring RadiQuell to people and pets.
Andy Clark, Ph.D., is a retired East Tennessee State University (ETSU) biochemist who has spent the past 16 years of his life working to get his invention into the hands of the people and animals who need it. His patented formula, RadiQuell, was designed to help soothe pain, fight skin infections, and heal lesions.
Clark works out of his own laboratory at ETSU’s Valleybrook Campus in Kingsport, continuously testing and improving the product, while also scaling up his company, AOX Biopharma.
On a personal note, Clark shared that he is battling the disease of multiple myeloma, requiring biweekly chemotherapy treatments. He was diagnosed about three years ago, shortly after turning 70.
Before the diagnosis, he had planned to retire from his chemistry.
Now, Clark views his product, RadiQuell, as his life’s work: his chance to leave a legacy.
Fighting to bring his life’s work to market
Shortly after Clark received his diagnosis, he worried the business would go south. He weighed the idea of closing it down before a longtime friend and investor, Jock Palmer, agreed to take over the operation with 51% ownership. Palmer was a chemical engineer at DuPont and started his own company, Palmer Innovations.
“It was really a godsend that his family provided the money,” Clark said. “And I committed to focus on the science and rollout for at least five more years.”
That commitment carries extra weight for Clark.
“When I was diagnosed, the doctor said I had three to five years to live,” Clark said. “I’m three years in. So what do I do with these remaining two years? I know this product can change people’s lives.”
What RadiQuell does
RadiQuell is not a drug, though Clark said it has medicinal and healing effects on its users. According to the results of non-clinical testing and trials, the product reduces inflammation, encourages skin cell migration, and boosts collagen production.
The product’s unique chemistry includes ingredients like Squalane, vitamin C, vitamin E-TPGS, zinc and lavender oil.
“All these things come together. If you take even one out of the product, it doesn’t work,” Clark explained. “The FDA asked us what the active ingredient was…and there isn’t one. It’s the system of how we combine them.”
The product, which is registered as a cosmetic rather than a drug, used to be called Lavengel, but AOX Biopharma recently rebranded it to RadiQuell to offer to a broader range of applications: gel, serum, and spray form for both humans and animals.
When the chemistry was completed, Clark said he sent it around to family and friends to test on skin conditions like shingles, cuts, burns, mosquito bites, blisters, eczema, and other irritations.
He said the positive feedback was “astonishing.”
But most of the product’s traction has come from canine use. Hundreds of reviews across the RadiQuell website and Amazon show customers praising the ointment for its use on hot spots and cuts on dogs and other animals.
A mission-led mindset
While the RadiQuell Canine is available for order, the human version of the product is still gearing up for commercial launch.
Clark said his goal is to get the product to market and see the impact of his 16 years of work.
“I believe in God, and I believe that I was put here on earth to do the best job that I could do as a human,” he said. “This product really helps people and animals. And so I want to see it through as much as I can to help people in the world.”
For now, interested customers can find RadiQuell canine for sale on the company’s website.
Read more about AOX Biopharma.
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