Bottmedical has developed clear braces made from bio-based polymers, further details of which can be found in an article on startupticker.ch. Founded as a spin-off from the University of Basel and headquartered in Technologiepark Basel, Bottmedical has already supplied its product to customers located across Europe and recently initiated global expansion plans in Japan and Australia. In Switzerland, Naturaligner is available at ever more hospitals, while the University of Basel is testing the product’s biomechanical properties in a clinical trial currently in progress.

It was only in April that the Basel-based company closed a financing round by securing gross proceeds in the amount of 1.1 million Swiss francs. At present, a Series B financing round is being prepared for the pending growth phase. The aim here is to ensure that Naturaligner will be available to one million patients by the next year.

“We are pioneers in the field of bio-based polymers for dental medicine. Our aim is to reduce patient exposure to harmful microplastics and plasticizers”, explains Tino Töpper, co-founder and CEO of Bottmedical, in an article with the ‘Basler Zeitung’ newspaper. After all, plasticizers in particular are suspected of promoting hormone-related diseases, while this problem does not exist with Naturaligner, making the product “unique” as a result.

While Bottmedical is working to expand production capacities, the company is also already focused on the development of its next product. Ultra-thin sensors are designed to function as an interface between the tongue and an app. “The Tofi-Trainer facilitates interactive and entertaining training of the muscle fiber-related tongue motor skills in order to improve the tension and the subconscious control of the tongue at night”, Töpper stated to ‘Basler Zeitung’. In this way, both snoring and sleep apnea could be treated.