Teen Inventor of Lollipop to Stop Hiccups Now CEO of New Biotech Firm Developing Cure for Severe Cases

Boston native MJ Kievman suffered from chronic hiccups when she was 13 years old, and in trying to find a cure, the teenager came up with her own invention called Hiccupops, the lollipop to stop hiccups.

With the help of her father, Adam Kievman, MJ pursued more research and development to bring Hiccupops to the market while she completed school. It might have taken a decade, but MJ, now 23 years old, has become the co-founder and CEO of a new biotech firm that will launch and expand Hiccupops nationwide. It will initially be sold at 864 CVS locations; it was previously trialed at 11 locations.

With its home base in Connecticut, Meter Health will also begin its research on a potential drug that will cure "clinically significant" hiccup cases. According to Hartford Courant, MJ is working with Dr. Bartholomew Bacak, an ear, nose, and throat expert with the University of Rochester Medical Center.

MJ and the doctor met in 2017 when she was completing her college degree. Bacak has been researching hiccups as neurological rather than respiratory or gastrointestinal issues. This hypothesis will anchor the development of a pill that will be more targeted and long-lasting than the current effects of the lollipop to stop hiccups.

Hiccupops changed MJ Kievman's life

MJ was prompted to find a cure for hiccups after she had a serious bout with the uncontrollable condition. For three months, MJ dealt with her hiccups that affected her sleep quality and debilitated her ability to enjoy the usual things teenagers love to do.

The inventor was interested in science but did not know what she was doing. Yet she made the first batches of Hiccupops in the family's kitchen with ingredients like saltwater, sugar, apple cider vinegar, and pickle juice.

Her father, who has a background in business, was her sole employee. She presented Hiccupops at a startup convention in Connecticut, which paved the way for her to enter the market.

Speaking with the New York Times in 2012, MJ said that her concoction impacts the nerves in the throat and mouth, triggering the hiccup reflex arc.

"It basically over-stimulates those nerves and cancels out the message to hiccup," MJ said.

With the establishment of Hiccupops in a small market in the U.S., MJ then went on to be invited to young entrepreneurs and innovation events, including the White House Science Fair. She had also fine-tuned the recipe for her invention.

Focus on the Hiccup Drug

However, when MJ met Bacak, she decided to focus on drug development and discontinued selling Hiccupops for some time. The consumers noticed and were reaching out to her to bring the product back, per Biz Journals.

So, MJ set out to find another manufacturer and then worked out a deal with the retail giant, CVS. At the same time, MJ continued her work with Bacak. The duo is planning to apply for the Food and Drug Administration approval to start the clinical trials of their hiccup drug by 2023, hoping to release a cure by 2025.

The young inventor said that her life's work would be for people who have suffered from a condition that has been "under-research and under-treated" for a very long time.