A Breakthrough in Exosome Skincare ft. Madhavi Gavini of Droplette

19:52Madhavi Gavini:That makes sense.

19:53Dr. Ekta Yadav:Yeah. I mean, I think that's a big thing for regenerative medicine right now. I think in general, because people are piling on all of these products and they're just like, well, it's going to repair my skin. And it's like, well, that's if it gets to the cells it's supposed to get to, you know, like, especially when you're talking about, I mean, you know, there's so much buzz around like fibroblast signaling, you know, protecting keratinus, all of this stuff, but it's like, you're not even reaching that area. You know what I mean? So like, that's where I really worry about consumers because they end up spending so much money, you know, and on a lot of these products and then don't get any results.

20:25Dr. Ekta Yadav:So that's right. Right.

20:26Madhavi Gavini:No, no. And in a clinical setting, because that's one place where they are used. And also it's interesting because if you talk to any germs who use it, it's always frozen. So this is clearly something people in the field know. But they typically do it after microneedling. So you are insulting the skin, right? You have basically like holes being poked into your face. And so you have some improved permeability for that period. And I think that's very interesting. However, we do know that like continuous repeat application of this is, is the most beneficial. So you, you get benefit from once or twice, but it's a little bit more, I mean, this is a silly analogy, but it's a little bit more like a vitamin.

21:07Madhavi Gavini:Like you want to be taking that every day to keep those circulating levels higher. And so you can't, you shouldn't micro needle your face, medical micro needle your face every day. And I think that's, that's where this technology and the ability to do it at home, um, like unlocks that additional dimension and the potential of this product.

21:23Dr. Ekta Yadav:Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And also because so many people are scared of microneedling too. I've heard that a lot. A lot of people will chime into our emails and be like, I don't want to do microneedling. What can I do? And so this is amazing, amazing for all of you out there that are just too scared or maybe just didn't sit well with you. This is a really great option as well. So I know you guys have a professional arm to all of this. If you could tell us more about that versus the one that's going out to consumers.

21:49Madhavi Gavini:Yeah, absolutely. So we have an exosome product called Trillium, and that's what we use in dermatology clinics. So we have various professionals who are using it across like New York and Boston. And that is a pure exosome product with just a minimal preservative system. So, you know, purely derived from human stem cell condition media. It's a high concentration, obviously, it's like 100 % essentially, and we use that same core ingredient as a basis for our exosome capsules that are sold to consumers. So think of it as like the professional strength and the at-home strength. And that version is used in a couple of ways.

22:28Madhavi Gavini:They use it after microneedling, but it's also being used after laser treatments. And that one's actually pretty interesting. So if you're familiar with laser, you know that they do ice packs after and ice packs are obviously great for cooling the skin, but you can sometimes like vasoconstrict a little bit too much and it can impair healing. And the mechanism of these is anti-inflammatory. So you're kind of turning off like those inflammatory signals and turning on like regenerative ones. So you get the same like sensation of cooling, but without the risk of vasoconstriction. And so we've had quite a few practices who use it now in lieu of ice packs and they've seen improved healing in their patients after laser treatments.

23:09Dr. Ekta Yadav:That's really interesting. So basically, this is an in-office. This is the in-office version. So that's really, really fascinating. I mean, I think that for me, I don't understand. I know a lot of people use the ice baths. And that was exactly... I used to always wonder that. From a science perspective, it's like all that vasoconstriction, like you're not getting blood to where it needs to heal. So that's really interesting. And then in terms of like understanding. So I know like since the professional arm is there and then you can go into an office like, you know, Dr. Belkin's office, you can go there and get that done.

23:42Dr. Ekta Yadav:So then do you follow up with at home maintenance with the consumer product at home then?

23:47Madhavi Gavini:Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly the way to think about it. And I think there are kind of two different things. One is like a big bolus treatment after, you know, insult or injury to the skin and tissue, whether it's microneedling or laser or whatever. So the idea there is improved recovery and regeneration after that injury. And then the at home is just kind of keeping the stable, elevated, like steady increase. It's almost like your daily vitamin in that sense. And so yeah, the benefits are different. One is like acute and the other is more longitudinal.

24:14Dr. Ekta Yadav:Makes sense. Makes sense. That's really exciting. And I'm glad that you did that because then it's like, you know, you have a full like treatment that you're following through on. And I think, especially, you know, I wanted to say this and I, and this is my opinion, you know, So for everyone listening, like, I feel like that when you can stick to a routine, like, when you have an easy way to stick to it, like, you're going to see the results. And I feel like especially with these, like, emerging fields of science coming into skincare and topical delivery of these ingredients, I mean, it's so, so important, I think, now more than ever for people to get on a routine.

24:45Dr. Ekta Yadav:And I feel like Droplet just, like, I don't know. when I first, like I said, when I first discovered you guys, I think that's why I was just so obsessed because it was like, this is something you can use every day and you don't have to think about it. It's like everything's built in, right? Like the consumer experience and like, you know, you use the device, you know, it's getting done, you know, the ingredients are going where they need to go. And so I just feel like it's so great for those of you out there that are like, I don't know what to do with my routine. I'm too lazy or I'm too tired at the end of the day, you know, those kind of factors, this eliminates a lot of that, you know?

25:19Dr. Ekta Yadav:And so that consistency is going to be built into using a device like this. So I just want to say that for our listeners, because so many people, Madhu, honestly, I can't tell you, so many people chime in with like, I don't know how many steps I should be using at night and all this stuff, you know? And so it's so important to have these kind of options in the industry. But yeah, no, I mean, you know, huge hats off to you. I mean, honestly, this is such a breakthrough and I can't wait for people to discover the exosome product. I've been using it myself. I love it. And I'm just so excited for you to bring this.

25:51That's great.

25:52Madhavi Gavini:No, no, we are too. And love getting the technical questions. I think we're happy to talk science all day. So it makes us so happy when other people are equally willing to geek out with us on it.

26:02Dr. Ekta Yadav:So excited to welcome back Dr. Dan Balkin, who is a double board certified New York City based dermatologist. Dr. Balkin was on the show, if you guys remember a few episodes back, talking to us and educating us about lasers. And today he is going to tell us about his use of droplets exosomes, professional products in his practice. Welcome back, Dr. Belkin. I'm so excited to have you back. Hi, Dr. Belkin. Welcome. Good to see you. Yeah, good to see you as well. I'm excited you're joining us. I have a few questions for you. I wanted to, we were just talking about Droplet, you know, in terms of like, like really kind of the logistics and understanding like how to use the device and like what it means.

26:38Dr. Ekta Yadav:And I think from your perspective, I'd love to learn more about in the professional setting the real benefits of using the device and especially with the exosome product. Can you tell us how are exosomes being used in professional applications right now in dermatology? Well, exosomes are still being, they're sort of like the frontier of sort of regenerative skincare and medicine. And I think they're still being studied and they're very exciting. And there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that they're helping with skin aging and hair growth. And a lot of people all over the world are injecting them dermally or subdermally, but that's not legal to do in the United States.

27:22Dr. Ekta Yadav:They're not FDA approved for injection. So the way that people get around that is they're using it with either microneedling. So with microneedling, you can get penetration through the stratum corneum and you'll get higher concentrations into the epidermis and the dermis. or with the Droplet device. So when one of my patients first told me about Droplet and I connected with the company, I was really skeptical because I was like, to get dermal penetration of topical ingredients without needling seems kind of unbelievable. And so I was really skeptical of it, but excited. And then when I met with them and I talked to Madhavi, she showed me all the research and it's kind of amazing.

28:08Dr. Ekta Yadav:So it allows me to get thermal penetration of actives without any injury to the skin. Yeah, that's, I mean, it's really remarkable. And I'm just curious, what has your experience been historically with exosomes? Like in terms of like maybe even results or just maybe some hiccups that you've kind of encountered using them in the office? Well, I haven't really been using them because I haven't really felt comfortable doing that with exosomes. They're human-derived. And a lot of the topical products are kind of unclear. The sourcing is unclear. Sometimes they don't have good cold storage logistics.

28:48Dr. Ekta Yadav:There's no cold. So you don't know if it's being refrigerated the whole way. Sometimes they're plant-based exosomes, which really don't do much at all. And so you just don't really know what you're getting because it's not FDA-approved. There's just not a lot of regulation. So Modivi will go into it more, But Droplet sources its exosomes from the same place as the Department of Defense. There's cold storage logistics. I feel very comfortable with where they're sourcing. And so this is sort of the first time that I've started incorporating exosomes into the office. I haven't been doing it before.

29:21Dr. Ekta Yadav:That's interesting. Yeah, I mean, I feel like this is a whole new category in itself. I mean, what Droplet's doing and the way you guys are reintroducing. I mean, I feel like I was talking to Madhuri about this, Dr. Balkan. And I don't know if you agree, but it was like we put the cart before the horse with some of these regenerative medicine ingredients, I feel like. Absolutely. Now we're circling back and we're realizing that was never going to work. So this is really, really fascinating and incredibly exciting to see that you can obviously go into an office and have a professional do this for you or you can do it at home.

29:54Dr. Ekta Yadav:And so I just want to get your take on that as well, you know, in terms of putting this into the hands of the consumer, giving them the ability to really interact with regenerative medicine. I mean, what are your thoughts around that? I mean, I think it's great. Like, I think people want to have something that they can do at home. I think that obviously we have to feel comfortable that what we're putting out is safe. But I think, you know, people want to do something at home. They want to be active in, you know, in doing something that's beneficial for themselves and their skin. And I think, unfortunately, there's so much, you know, there's so many devices that are marketed to consumers that really don't work and really don't have good evidence behind them.

30:37Dr. Ekta Yadav:And, you know, I think it's great that Droplet is not super expensive. It's high quality ingredients. It has real R &D behind it. you know, I really like it. You know, I get so many devices sent to me and I hear and I have so many people talking to me about their products, either like their skincare products or their devices. And it's like, you know, the data is just never really that robust. Yeah, no, I agree with you. I think this is and that's why I asked you was to kind of put our listeners, you know, mind at ease a little bit because this is so, so amazing. And I think it's such a breakthrough.

31:11Dr. Ekta Yadav:And, you know, at the end of the day, like I get so many emails, I was telling Maudry about this, Like I get so many emails from people that are like, well, where do I layer this? And I want to buy like five different products that are regenerative medicine focused. And it's like, you guys, you know, like it's about delivery. It's about, you know, getting it to where it needs to go. And then is it going to even act on yourselves? Is it going to totally. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's the fundamental. So, you know, it's incredibly important for all of our listeners out there to understand, like the impact this device has in this industry at this time in this format, you know, so.

31:45Dr. Ekta Yadav:So that's huge. It's huge. Like for better or for worse, you know, the FDA doesn't monitor skin care, you know? So it's like you can, there's all of these claims that, or that can only be regulated on sort of a post-market basis, not pre-market. So you don't know, like something can say 20 % vitamin C, but it could totally denature on the shelf in a day. Or if it doesn't, it could just sit on the surface of your skin and not penetrate at all. Like there's, you know, you can make so many claims in skincare that you don't have to back up. And so, you know, so I think consumers will rely on dermatologists, beauty editors, you, scientists, you know, there's all of these other ways that you can sort of make sure something is legitimate.

32:30Dr. Ekta Yadav:But it's a hard area for people to really know what's real. Right. Now, in terms of post-procedure care, how do you feel that this fits into post-procedure care? Because I think a lot of people are getting like, you know, obviously like the microneedling, that's what we've been hearing most about is like microneedling and then you do the exosome treatment. But then if you do get just normal microneedling, how do you feel that the droplet device fits into that kind of post-procedure recovery? I think it'll be great. I mean, I'm just sort of like rolling it out now. But I think, you know, so far what I've seen is that, you know, it's immediately soothing.

33:06Dr. Ekta Yadav:The exosomes, like any sort of collagen stimulator or peptides, should help with healing post-laser and anti-inflammatory benefit post-laser. So it sort of allows us to kind of combine multiple treatments. So you could do like microneedling with radiofrequency, and then you can do the exosome treatment with droplets. So you're getting both the benefit of the radiofrequency, the microneedling, and the exosomes in one treatment. That's awesome. I love that. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Balkin. This was very helpful. Yeah, good to talk to you again, Ekta. I'll talk to you another time. Likewise. Yeah.

33:43Dr. Ekta Yadav:Thank you so much. Yeah. You know, I want to dive into the actual product, though. I mean, it's so cool what people are getting. I mean, why did you decide to make the starter set with the ExoZone product with Droplet, the actual device as a starter set?

33:56Madhavi Gavini:Well, okay. So we launched the product. we launched the serum treatment like in our capsules a while ago, like a couple, like, you know, and, and we, we did it because we were very, like, we were very interested in the science and we're like, I think people want this. Let's see what happens. And then it became one of our most popular products. And, you know, we've had like over 300 ,000 treatments and it's like our stickiest SKU and people really love it. And we were like, we should make this like an introductory price, like an introductory product into our portfolio. So we made it, we basically made it a formal starter set.

34:30Madhavi Gavini:And that's something that we're really excited to be launching. And we think that there are so many, I think people are so much more sophisticated about skincare and ingredients than they were pre-COVID because everyone just got bachelor's in biology during that time period, essentially. And the types of questions we get from customers, they're so smart. And we've just wanted to be like, here's the product that you were clearly looking for. Just get the set. You are good to go. You're going to love it.

35:03Dr. Ekta Yadav:Yeah. I love that you did that though. I mean, that's like, it makes it a lot easier. And I agree. I think, because it's exciting to hear about these technologies, but then how do you use them? That's a huge question. So I mean, this is like kind of a one and done and you know exactly what to do and like how to use it. But you mentioned the capsules. Can you talk to us about what exactly are the capsules and walk us through like, oh, what's inside of them? And And why did you go to such great lengths to really keep them cold?

35:29Madhavi Gavini:So, okay. So we take mesenchymal stem cell condition media. That's like the primary constituent of these. So just to briefly describe it, the way we set up our system is you buy the droplet delivery device, right? It's a microinfuser. It works with all of our products. And then with this particular set, we also give you a month's supply of our exosome serum. and so they're packaged in these capsules so they're single use think of it like a curiger and espresso so you pop it in and turn it on and um the the beauty of it is it the majority of it is kept in the freezer except for the one unit that you're using at that given time so you are able to preserve stability you're getting consistency of dose so the same amount in your skin every time that's like the pharma background coming in because we care about dose consistency and it is designed basically so that for daily use so we recommend using it in the evening.

36:23Madhavi Gavini:Although we certainly have people who use it in the morning. We have people who use it twice a day. It's kind of up to you in a lot of ways. So yeah, so that's kind of how the system, how the kit is set up. And then we have it on subscription as well. So you can get it as a single purchase or you can buy it on subscription.

36:38Dr. Ekta Yadav:I love that. So it's easy to kind of keep track of when to use it, how frequently to use it. I think that's really, really important too, because I know we get a lot of questions about these kind of ingredients and like, Like, well, when should I be integrating this into my routine? You know, and like where and like, you know, what layer is it supposed to be in? So that's really good to know. And how would you pair it with all of the other options?

37:00Madhavi Gavini:I would use this first. So use it on clean skin, like after you've washed your face. And it's the first product you use. And that would be true for other products as well. So, you know, first thing that goes on your face, then you can do your regular routine if you wish on top of it. And it should not interfere in any way with that. So I'd say that's probably the most common way in which it's used.

37:20Dr. Ekta Yadav:That's awesome. I love that. And you know, because with exosomes, like you want to get them on your skin first, right? Like I'm understanding that like you want to let them do the signaling and do all the stuff they're supposed to do.

37:29Madhavi Gavini:Yeah. And I think it's a little bit of a flip from the convention that you put the smallest ingredient on first. Yeah. In this case, it's yeah. In this case, no, this is, this is definitely the first thing you should be using.

37:40Dr. Ekta Yadav:That's really, yeah, that's really good to know. And so what if somebody is, so if somebody is using, and this is, I think my general, I have a question in general about the droplet system is like if people are using like, you know, cause everyone loves like milky toners these days, they love like layering other things like a mist or something. Can, is it still safe to go in then with the droplet device and still do this? Or do you want this to be like on completely bare skin?

38:02Madhavi Gavini:You're going to get the most benefit when it's on totally bare skin. We do have people who will do it on top of other products and you should still like, you'll still get penetration and benefits. But I think like the optimal case is definitely on clean dry skin.

38:16Dr. Ekta Yadav:So I want to actually talk a little bit more about like, you know, in terms of like the delivery, like, because I mean, clearly this is going a lot deeper, right? Than just applying something topically. We've kind of established that now. But what do you want consumers to understand about like how deep we're getting the product and the actual ingredients and like what that means for like overall skin's ability to utilize the, you know, the exosomes and actually start that signaling?

38:42Madhavi Gavini:Right. Right. Well, I think this is an analogy I've used a few times when we've been like actively fundraising for the business, but if you have a headache, you're not going to put an aspirin in your pocket. You're going to swallow it. And it's kind of the same thing here. Like if you have a skin problem you're trying to treat, you want it to actually achieve, like hit those skin cells. Otherwise you're not going to get that mechanistic improvement. And so if you think about the skin, you have the stratum corneum, which is like that outer layer, and you need things to get past that. And anything that gets past the stratum corneum is going to diffuse.

39:11Madhavi Gavini:So it's going to go into the epidermis and dermal layers, and you're going to get a biological function. But really, it's just getting past that stratum corneum barrier. That's kind of key. Yeah.

39:19Dr. Ekta Yadav:And I mean, I think that's why I asked because people are always like, well, where do these act? Where do exomes actually act? And so that makes a lot of sense. Now, I know we have a code for our listeners. So if they want to use the code, what is the code? So the code is anarchy, as in skincare anarchy. That's amazing. Thank you so much for the code. And I hope everyone listening, scroll down in the show notes and you'll see it right there as well. We will also be popping everything in our stories to make sure you guys are checking that out. But Madhuri, thank you so much. This was amazing learning from you.

39:47Dr. Ekta Yadav:Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, no, I'm just, I'm so excited that you're bringing this forward. And we need it, you know, as an industry, we need something like this. So very cool.

39:54Madhavi Gavini:Thank you so much. No, we're excited too.