Yang won't divulge how much TheraLife expects to spend on testing. Even if it's only a fraction of the amount that pharmaceutical firms spend, the amount that TheraLife needs to run clinical trials is daunting for a start-up company. It's too early to tell, but there is a sizeable pot of money out there, despite the hammering of hi-tech and Internet stocks over the past year. So far, Yang and Tao raised their start-up capital from a group of private investors in Silicon Valley. Yang is convinced that TheraLife will break even next year and is aiming to go public or merge with a pharmaceutical company in two to three years.
Some observers say the goal is realistic.
The key is scientific and clinical evidence. There's no doubt that TheraLife's Yang and Tao have targeted an area of tremendous opportunity. In the U.S. alone, 1.8 million workers a year say they suffer from injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and lower back pain, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. TheraLife is furthest along in running clinical trials of its dry-eye formula. It expects to submit its findings to the FDA in May or June.