Alliqua, Inc., a biomedical company, develops, manufactures, and markets high water content, electron beam cross-linked, aqueous polymer hydrogels, or gels, used for wound care, medical diagnostics, transdermal drug delivery and cosmetics. The company’s wholly owned subsidiaries include AquaMed Technologies, Inc. (AquaMed); Alliqua Biomedical, Inc. (Alliqua Biomedical); and HepaLife Biosystems, Inc. (HepaLife). Products and Services The company supplies gels primarily to the wound care and pain management segments of the healthcare industry. Its gels can be utilized as delivery mechanisms for medication to be delivered through the skin into the blood stream, known as transdermal delivery, or to be delivered between the layers of the skin, known as intradermal delivery. Active ingredients can be added to its gels for use in wound/burn dressings and to provide for the topical application of non-prescription drugs. Additionally, its gels can also be used as components in certain medical devices, skin care treatments, cosmetics and other commercial products. The company intends to market a hydrogel wound dressing and a hydrocolloid wound dressing, with respect to which it has a worldwide exclusive license, that incorporate silver-coated fibers marketed under the trademarks X-Static and SilverSeal. In addition, the company intends to develop a transdermal lidocaine patch to treat pain associated with post herpetic neuralgia, or PHN. It also intends to explore alternatives related to its HepaMate technology, which focuses on the development of a cell-based bioartificial liver system. Markets and Customers Moist Wound Healing: The company intends to market its own branded lines of prescription and over-the-counter wound care products and to supply products to developers and distributors of prescription and over-the-counter wound healing products for distribution to healthcare professionals and retailers that would either use its products in the course of treating their patients’ wounds or resell its products. Transdermal Delivery of Prescription Drugs and Over-the-Counter Treatments: The company supplies its hydrogels to the pain management segment of the healthcare industry. It involves in various other development projects that use hydrogels in transdermal delivery of specific ingredients. In addition, the company sells its hydrogel products to manufacturers and distributors of non-prescription medication and other therapeutic applications. Medical Device Manufacturers: The company targets manufacturers of medical devices (such as monitoring electrodes and devices and defibrillator pads). Cosmetics and Other Consumer Products: The company manufactures hydrogels, hydrogel patches and hydrogel products that have been used by some of the U.S. cosmetics companies. These products include over-the-counter skin care preparation and other products for cosmetic use. The company intends to target five specific markets within the wound care industry: diabetic ulcers; pressure sores; venous stasis ulcers; post-surgical dressings; and burns. Suppliers The company’s suppliers include the Dow Chemical Company and the BASF Corporation. Patents, Proprietary Rights and Trademarks The company’s subsidiary, Alliqua Biomedical, has a worldwide license to use Noble Fiber Technologies, LLC’s silver coated fibers marketed under the trademarks X-Static and SilverSeal in Alliqua Biomedical, Inc.’s manufacture, sale, use and distribution of Hydrogel Wound Dressing identified in 510(k) K040019 and Hydrocolloid Wound Dressing identified in 510(k) K033900. The company’s subsidiary, HepaLife, has an exclusive license agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service for existing and future patents related to the PICM-19 hepatocyte cell lines. Research and Development As of December 31, 2011, the company incurred research and development costs totaling $522,830. Regulations The company is registered as a device manufacturer with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Competition The company’s main competitor in the high performance gel industry is Covidien plc.