Business Spotlight: Innovative Immunity

Kerri Miller’s business name is her life mission: Make People Better.

Miller’s mission starts with a clinical strength hydrating product, called Re:iimmune, that combines prebiotics and probiotics for immune system health.

Founded in 2013, Make People Better LLC really got off the ground last May, following the inaugural Spin66 innovation summit at The eFactory downtown.

Not only did Miller’s startup idea win a pitch competition against three entrepreneurs, she found some early investors in the audience.

After hearing the pitch, global logistics professionals Mark and Cindy Vogt approached Miller and talks led to an undisclosed startup investment.

“It has been a complete whirlwind since then,” Miller says.

The last year has been spent signing a contract with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., developing new products and beginning negotiations with Target Corp.

Global health
The idea for Re:iimmune was born out of years providing medical care in Nicaragua.

“In low-income countries, the biggest problem is water,” Miller says.

“From a health perspective, it creates a tremendous amount of diarrhea, disease and malnutrition.”

An internal medicine nurse practitioner by trade, Miller more recently built her resume by completing the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Doctorate and the Harvard Global Health Effectiveness Program.

Given the World Health Organization four decades ago developed an oral rehydration formula as effective as an IV, Miller knew there was potential for more. She had spent most of her career working in illness recovery.

“As a nurse, it’s your responsibility to help the patient recover,” she says. “I really started to look at these patients in a different light.

“Internal medicine is everything.”

Targeting the gut, Re:iimmune works by first restoring hydration, then by supporting the body’s immune system, which aims to help the body recover more quickly. It can be used in many instances including after the use of antibiotics, the stomach flu, pre and post surgery, after hospital stays and for senior care.

Her dietary supplement in powder form is designed to prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea and aid in intestinal tissue repair.

The prebiotics in Re:iimmune promote growth of good bacteria, she says, and the probiotics complex of 14 strains help support the immune system. Re:iimmune contains L-glutamine that assists in repairing tissue and ginger to reduce nausea in patients.

Miller also partnered with Mercy Research and Development to help design clinical studies. It also allows her use of its integrated health systems.

As a former Mercy employee, Miller says she originally approached the R&D team in 2013 to start the venture and determine her options for product development. Mercy initially wanted a 50/50 partnership, but Miller turned it down.

“I felt like I had already developed the product as I wanted and had samples,” Miller says.

A year later, Miller asked Mercy to join as a clinical partner. Mercy currently owns 6 percent of Make People Better and provides scientific advisers, as well as stocking and selling Re:iimmune in its hospitals.

“Mercy saw the need for this product in other areas of the world, but also saw how something so simple and straightforward could provide better care to our patients at Mercy at a lower cost,” says Mercy R&D Director Keela Davis.

On the shelf
Available to mass markets through Amazon, Re:iimmune is carried locally at such pharmacies as Price Cutter, Family Pharmacy and Grove Pharmacy.

“I have not tried it myself, but it is moving very well,” Lawrence Drug owner Ken Lawrence says. “Folks have come in and asked for it.”

Miller is not stopping there. Last month, she attended the ECRM conference in Las Vegas. Miller says the meeting included a “pay-to-play” speed-dating program with retailers, and she had the opportunity to speak with big and small companies.

“Out of all 62 retailers I met with, only five vendors were not interested in our product because it was so new,” she says.

Now, Miller is negotiating a contract with Target and has signed on with Wal-Mart to launch Re:iimmune regionally in April.

While important, she says the retail efforts are costly investments.

“Retailers expect a 40-45 percent margin,” Miller says, declining to disclose Re:iimmune’s early sales volumes.

Meanwhile, Make People Better is working on two new products: a pediatric version of Re:iimmune and Re:play, designed for athlete hydration. Miller also continues to work her Get Well Make Well campaign.

Similar to Toms Shoes’ One for One pledge, Make People Better donates one serving of Re:iimmune to a low-income country for every box sold. She distributes through organizations such as Project Hope and Convoy of Hope. The commitment amounts to nearly 20 percent of company profits.

“It’s a big chunk of your bottom line as a businessperson, but my investors appreciate that,” Miller says.

Investor-owner Mike Vogt says after years investing on Wall Street, it’s rewarding to fund a local venture.

“We were moved by the Get Well Make Well campaign, and to consider the lifesaving benefits chokes you up,” says Vogt, a former managing partner of Marisol International. “Investing in Make People Better was relatively easy because the product Re:iimmune works.”

For Miller, the work always comes back to the LLC name.

“I want to help people recover,” she says. “It doesn’t matter where their home is, it could be in Highland Springs or it could be in Nicaragua. Both people are equally deserving.”[[In-content Ad]]