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Eosera

From ReferenceBase
Eosera
TypePrivate
IndustryConsumer health; ear care
Founded2015; 11 years ago (2015) in [Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
FoundersElyse Stoltz Dickerson; Joe Griffin
HeadquartersFort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Key people
Elyse Stoltz Dickerson (co-founder and CEO); Joe Griffin (co-founder and CSO)
ProductsOver-the-counter ear care drops, sprays, irrigation devices, swabs, and supplements
Websitehttps://eosera.com

Eosera is a privately held consumer health company based in Fort Worth, Texas, that develops over-the-counter ear care products for earwax removal, ear pain, ear itch, and related conditions.[1][2] It was founded in 2015 by Elyse Stoltz Dickerson and Joe Griffin, both former pharmaceutical-industry executives, and introduced its first product, the earwax-removal drop Earwax MD, in 2017.[2] [3] The company subsequently expanded into a broader line of drops, sprays, irrigation devices, and swabs sold through national retailers,[1] and is a majority woman-owned business that manufactures many of its products at its Fort Worth headquarters.[3][4]

History

Eosera was founded in 2015 by Elyse Stoltz Dickerson and Joe Griffin, who had previously worked together in the pharmaceutical industry and set out to develop products for underserved ear care needs after leaving the eye-care company Alcon.[3][2] The company developed its first formulations in leased laboratory space at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and, in 2015, won a $50,000 pitch competition hosted by the Dallas Entrepreneur Center and Comerica Bank, which the founders have said funded an early clinical trial.[5][6] Dickerson has said the company launched with about $1.2 million in funding.[2]

Eosera introduced Earwax MD in 2017 and secured national retail distribution with CVS, reaching roughly 7,000 CVS stores that year and about 8,000 by later accounts.[7][5] The company also arranged early distribution to nursing homes and long-term care facilities through a supply partner.[8] Eosera reported sales growth of 128 percent in 2019,[9] and it appeared on Inc. magazine's Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, ranking No. 753 in 2021;[10] by 2023, local and trade coverage described the company as having made the list three years running.[11]

The company expanded its retail footprint over the following years, adding Walgreens, Walmart, Albertsons, and Kroger in 2022 to an existing base that included CVS, Rite Aid, and Amazon, and it reported a total of about 28,000 retail locations.[12] Eosera also established the eosera Foundation, which runs an annual pitch competition awarding funding to women-owned, Texas-based startups.[13]

Products

Eosera's flagship product, Earwax MD, is a topical drop that the company describes as using a dual-action formula to dissolve earwax; the company has reported that, in a company-conducted evaluation of 30 ears with moderate to severe impaction, a single treatment cleared the impaction in 86 percent of cases.[3] The product line grew to include Earwax MD for Kids, Ear Pain MD (which contains 4 percent lidocaine), Ear Itch MD, the Wax Blaster MD irrigation system, and Earwax Pet, among others.[1][14] The company later added Ear View MD, a smartphone-connected otoscope.[12]

In 2024, Eosera introduced single-use vial packaging for its ear pain and earwax drops, which it markets as physician-recommended.[15] In March 2026, the company announced its largest product launch to date, including reformulated products marketed as Ear Pain MD +Plus and Ear Itch MD +Plus, two ear-swab products, and a line of ear-wellness gummy supplements.[4]

Operations and manufacturing

Eosera initially manufactured and scaled its products through the TechFW incubator in Fort Worth.[5] In 2019 it moved to a larger facility on South Freeway in Fort Worth,[14] and in 2023 it opened a roughly 36,500-square-foot corporate and manufacturing facility, more than doubling its previous footprint, at a ribbon-cutting attended by Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker.[11][16] The company has said its drops are manufactured in the United States, while some of its devices are made in China.[3] Eosera is certified as a woman-owned business by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council.[4]

In July 2020, following a January 2020 inspection of its Fort Worth facility, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Eosera a warning letter. The letter cited violations of current good manufacturing practice regulations and stated that three of the company's products, Ear Pain MD, Ear Pain MD for Kids, and Ear Itch MD, were unapproved new drugs marketed without required FDA approval.[17] Trade coverage reported that Eosera removed its ear pain and ear itch products from the e-commerce pages of its website following the warning.[18] In a 2021 profile, Dickerson described a separate voluntary recall of Ear Pain MD and Ear Itch MD over incorrect expiration dating, which she said the company was not obligated to conduct and which cost about $1 million.[3] The company later reintroduced ear pain and ear itch products, including the 2026 reformulations marketed as Ear Pain MD +Plus and Ear Itch MD +Plus.[4]

Leadership

Elyse Stoltz Dickerson is Eosera's co-founder and chief executive officer and has led the company since its founding in 2015; she previously spent more than a decade at Alcon, where she became a global director before a layoff preceded the company's creation.[3][2] Joe Griffin, a co-founder who holds a doctorate in toxicology, serves as chief scientific officer and leads the company's product formulation and development.[6][3] In 2025, Eosera named Shilpi Jain as senior director of innovation.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Welch, Blair (March 4, 2019). "Elyse Dickerson: Mentor, CEO, and Leader in Biotech Talks 'Turning the Market on its Head'". Dallas Innovates.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Woodchek, Chesney (September 6, 2019). "Eosera's Elyse Dickerson on Risks and Rewards". D Magazine. D CEO.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Barton, Kristen (December 2, 2021). "People over profits: Fort Worth businesswoman leads biotech company Eosera". Fort Worth Report.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Eosera Marks a Milestone with its Largest Product Launch to Date" (Press release). PR Newswire. April 7, 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Seeley, David (April 19, 2022). "Eosera Graduates from TechFW, CEO Joins Its Board". Dallas Innovates.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Henry, John (November 19, 2021). "Waxing Poetic: Eosera's Life Began with 18 Pivotal Minutes of Presentations". Fort Worth Inc.
  7. ↑ Nguyen, Olivia (September 7, 2017). "Eosera's Earwax Product In 7,000 CVS Stores". D Magazine.
  8. ↑ Hunter, Glenn (September 13, 2017). "Eosera to Offer Earwax MD in Nursing Homes Countrywide". D Magazine.
  9. ↑ "Eosera Announces Sales Growth from 2019-20". Hearing Review. January 21, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Eosera Included on 'Inc 5000' List". Hearing Review. August 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Seeley, David (September 12, 2023). "EOSERA Finds Room to Grow at Its New Fort Worth Corporate and Manufacturing Facility". Dallas Innovates.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Fort Worth ear care company adds major retailers" (Press release). Fort Worth Report. July 6, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Austin-Based Company Wins $20,000 at Eosera Foundation Pitch Competition in Fort Worth". Fort Worth Inc. November 12, 2024.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Eosera Launches Two New Ear Care Products". Hearing Review. September 24, 2019.
  15. ↑ Schiffner, Bill (July 15, 2024). "Eosera launches single-use vials for ear pain and ear wax drops". Chain Drug Review.
  16. ↑ Ayesha Hana Shaji (September 6, 2024). "Eosera doubles office space in new facility in Fort Worth". Dallas Business Journal.
  17. ↑ "Warning Letter: Eosera, Inc. (MARCS-CMS 605500)". U.S. Food and Drug Administration. July 13, 2020.
  18. ↑ Spicer, Malcolm (July 28, 2020). "OTC Ear Care Firm Eosera Gets Earful From US FDA On Pain And Itch Remedies, GMP Compliance". HBW Insight.
  19. ↑ "Eosera Appoints Shilpi Jain as Senior Director of Innovation". Fort Worth Inc. August 5, 2025.
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