History

From a casual idea to the market

In January 2005 the ‘prototypes’ of today’s HERPOTHERM^® were on the market already. The company BIONIC SOLUTION MANAGEMENT in Greifswald, Germany, had developed bite away^® against insect stings in January 2004 and started series production ignoring that this little medical device with its concentrated heat effect might also be used to fight lip herpes.

Joerg Zippenfennig, then managing director of BIONIC SOLUTION and son of a mother suffering from herpes, had the idea of “misusing” the bite away^® product based on the medical knowledge, that herpes viruses are thermolabile from a temperature of 50 °C (122 °F). He recommended his mother to press the bite away^® heating spot onto the affected skin as soon as the first symptoms of herpes are felt. The effect was phenomenal and the result immediately noticeable. The symptoms disappeared in seconds and no herpes outbreak followed.

Consequently the “private test series” with another 8 persons from his family and friends was continued. Five tests proved to be successful, two persons reacted with a less severe and shortened herpes outbreak, one person showed no desired result. Reason: The standard bite away® devices use a temperature range between 49 °C (120.2 °F) and 53 °C (127.4 °F). The analysis confirmed that all those devices, which prevented the herpes outbreak, generated a concentrated heat of 51 °C (123.8 °F) to 53 °C (127.4 °F) thus being able to have the desired effect. Thus the challenge was to select the heat generating microchips prior to the assembly of the bite away^®, now called HERPOTHERM^®.

The DERMATEST institute confirmed the effective use of the little device by means of a test series involving 20 test persons  (Click here to read the expertise). Persons using HERPOTHERM^® as soon as the first symptoms are noticed did not have a herpes outbreak. Affected persons, who felt first clear signs and a visible swelling, reported a less severe and shorter course of the herpes conditions when using HERPOTHERM^®.