Genexa co-founder David Johnson. photo courtesy of Genexa

GOOD CLEAN FUN

Atlanta-based and -founded clean medicine company Genexa is on a mission to get unpronounceable ingredients out of our medicine cabinets and aisles. Here, we sit down with Atlantan co-founder David Johnson to discuss what the brand is doing for the local, national and international community.

What inspired you to create Genexa? How did you dream it up?

Me and my partner, Max Spielberg, founded Genexa as two dads looking to understand the unpronounceable ingredients in our kids’ medicine—especially since 90 to 95% of over-the-counter products contain unnecessary, artificial ingredients like dyes, preservatives, sweeteners, common allergens and other synthetic fillers. Genexa was inspired by our need for a new kind of pharma company that creates medicine using the same effective, active ingredients people need, but without the artificial ones they don’t.

Can you explain to our readers how Genexa is different from generic medicine brands?

Genexa stands out because it gives people access to clean medicine for the first time. Until we started this movement, consumers didn’t know their medications contained artificial fillers like titanium dioxide, FD&C Red No. 40, sucralose and more dyes, preservatives, sweeteners and common allergens like gluten and lactose. But, unlike competitors, Genexa replaces these artificial fillers with clean, natural fillers—like organic agave versus high fructose corn syrup, organic beet root versus FD&C Red No. 40 for coloring.

What products do you or your family use/like most from Genexa?

Adult Acetaminophen Extra Strength and PM and the Kids’ Pain & Fever line! Adult Acetaminophen, which launched in April as the first clean adult pain reliever, delivers the same dosage as Extra Strength Tylenol and Tylenol PM and is an effective fever reducer and pain reliever. Kids’ Pain & Fever line is for reducing fevers and relieving pains due to common cold and flu symptoms. In addition to the oral suspension, we expanded our line of pediatric pain products last month with Genexa’s new Kids’ Pain & Fever Chewable, which meets parents where they are in active lifestyles with clean, on-the-go delivery formats.

Why did you choose Atlanta as the headquarters for Genexa?

Atlanta has the feel of an urban city with the appeal of a small town. It’s culturally rich and filled with talented people with diverse experiences—which has only positively impacted our business.

I hear you have many celebrity investors in Genexa—one of whom is a big Atlanta name, Donald Glover. Can you speak on how Donald got involved and why?

I met Donald through another investor, and we bonded over our families and interests. Once he heard about Genexa and the access we gave families, he wanted to play a larger role. Donald shares in the sentiment that clean medicine is something people deserve and is best when it’s free of artificial inactive ingredients.