Microcapdaily Interviews Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWLG) On Radical Innovation Wanted to Maintain the Web Rising

Lightwave Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWLG) is making a strong run up the charts since reversing off $5.40 established help ranges. Dr. Michael S. Lebby, Lightwave’s chief and CEO not too long ago joined Microcapdaily for an interview. Dr. Lebby joined Lightwave Logic as a member of the Board of Administrators in 2015. In Might 2017, he assumed the function of CEO of the corporate. Dr. Lebby is an Anglo-American entrepreneur and intrapreneur within the fields of optoelectronics/photonics electronics and semiconductors. His profession began with the British Authorities in 1977 in telecommunications and he did analysis at their prestigious labs (RSRE Malvern) within the early Nineteen Eighties and labored at AT&T Bell Labs (1985-1989) in photonics. At Motorola within the Nineties he drove the event, together with co-authorship of the primary patent, of the oxide VCSEL diode laser which is now utilized in laser mice, 3D sensing/FaceID in cellphones, optical interconnects with volumes over 1B items. From 2005-2010 he led the USA commerce affiliation in optoelectronics (OIDA) and represented the optoelectronics business on Capitol Hill. He has run technical start-ups and commercialized optoelectronic and photonics know-how into manufacturing. He was voted PIC (Photonic Built-in Circuit) enterprise chief of the yr by the PIC Worldwide Convention in 2018. He’s a technical professional to the European Fee and a Fellow of IEEE and OSA.

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily –  Hiya Dr. Lebby that is Boe Rimes from Microcapdaily and we’re so excited to have you ever on in the present day for this interview. We additionally actually recognize you taking outing of your busy schedule to take a seat down with us. Are you able to begin by offering a quick background on Lightwave Logic, NASDAQ: LWLG? What’s the goal of the corporate’s proprietary electro-optic polymer know-how?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: The aim is just to complement individuals’s lives utilizing our electro-optic polymers. The massive query is: how is a know-how that’s tough to pronounce going to do that? It’s rhetorical, as we already know the reply, and that’s by serving to present extra bandwidth to the web. Extra bandwidth means extra information flowing across the fiber optic community that’s the structure for the web.

How can we outline extra information? Properly – it’s pretty straight-forward; as you learn your subsequent electronic mail, or watch on-line information, do you marvel what the have an effect on could be if the pace of information passing via the web doubled? What would it not imply for us if our bandwidth information price availability at house tripled, quadrupled, and even was 10X or 100X sooner? It’s value questioning: we’d see sooner downloads, sooner uploads, and we might be capable of run many video home windows on many computer systems, moveable tablets, notebooks and many others., and video platforms all through our house or workplace. Gone could be the times of turning our digicam off to avoid wasting bandwidth. Ha! I had to do that final week various instances from my home-office. Wouldn’t this be nice?

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – Are you able to clarify how your proprietary electro-optic polymer know-how works?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Lightwave Logic is a Colorado-based firm designing very high-speed optical switching gadgets for the web. These gadgets are known as modulators and so they change gentle extraordinarily quick, and so they do it consuming very low energy, and lastly, they’ll very be small. Collectively, our gadgets act as highly effective engine for parts within the web.

Lightwave Logic’s electro-optic polymers are really-cool! If you apply a easy voltage from say a battery, they’ll change gentle. It’s kind of like an optical shutter on a digicam. When the shutter is open, gentle passes via and we have now a ‘1’, and when the shutter is closed, we have now a ‘0’. That is the premise for sending digital information onto and into the web. Let’s unpack the time period electro-optics – because of this when you apply a voltage then you possibly can change the optical properties of the fabric i.e., optical switching like a shutter. Actually, it’s a related mechanism that has been utilized in LCDs (liquid crystal shows). That materials is liquid. Our proprietary materials is polymer based mostly and is an natural strong. The fascinating statement is that our polymers change gentle much-much sooner than liquid crystal supplies. Let’s discover the time period polymer as it’s utilized in various functions in the present day. Our proprietary polymers are much like the important thing materials utilized in OLEDs (Natural Gentle Emitting Diodes). At the moment, we have now OLED cell phone shows, OLED TVs, OLET displays, and actually OLEDs are in every single place. OLEDs are polymers additionally (the time period natural means polymer), besides they’ve a special chemical composition that emits gentle (crimson, inexperienced, blue and many others.), nevertheless, our polymers change gentle in a short time, and what’s extra, at very low voltages (which implies very low energy consumption). Low energy consumption is the Achilles heel of the datacenter business in the present day. The individuals working on this business know that they’ve to unravel this downside to stay aggressive.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – What stage of growth is that this know-how in?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Our electro-optic polymers are within the prototype stage of growth. We’ve achieved optical modulator switching speeds at the least 3X sooner than different semiconductor modulators which can be getting used as a part of the web in the present day, and what’s extra, with important energy financial savings that clients need to see. Our polymer know-how not solely is ideally appropriate to improve bandwidth and information charges for the web in the present day, however tomorrow, in 5 years, in 10 years, and for the subsequent few many years. Mom nature works with us when polymers are designed into modulators, and we see that our platform has a roadmap to assist business resolve its issues not for a decade, however for many years.

Similar to OLEDs, we see our electro-optic polymer modulators being ubiquitous in a worldwide widespread adoption for the web and optical networking business. Once I did analysis at Motorola Company Laboratories within the early Nineties on OLED applied sciences, there have been stability, lifetime, reliability points that wanted to be solved. The business solved them and now we settle for OLEDs similar to semiconductors – they’re in every single place in many alternative merchandise. We’re following the identical technological route – at Lightwave Logic, we have now enormous information units and constant outcomes on stability, poling, lifetime, reliability, and we see the identical path for the know-how to turn out to be ubiquitous in the identical means as OLEDs. It is vitally thrilling to be a techie working at Lightwave Logic!

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – When will you go to market and start producing revenues?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Our plan is to commercially scale our polymer know-how in quantity utilizing all out there assets to do it. This implies we’ll make the most of our state-of-the-art business manufacturing supplies services in Colorado to generate the polymers, which have capability for quantity scale manufacturing. We’ll add to that the capabilities of quantity scale silicon semiconductor foundries to run wafers containing our polymer modulators.

We’ve filed and had issued over the previous few years many patents, each worldwide and nationwide along with proprietary methods to guard our electro-optic polymer platform. With this patent portfolio, we’ll make the most of a enterprise mannequin that helps promoting modulator gadgets as transceiver engines for the web in addition to licensing our patent portfolio for income, and lastly transferring our modulator know-how to massive scale quantity semiconductor foundries for commercialization.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – The place do you anticipate the business to go within the subsequent 5 years?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Because the web will increase in bandwidth over the subsequent 5-10-15+ years with applied sciences similar to polymer modulators that we construct at Lightwave Logic, we, as a society should think about what this can do for us. With primarily limitless bandwidth into our properties, workplaces, and cell phone means we might be probably uncovered to large quantities of data, some we like, some we received’t need to see, and a few that received’t depart us alone. Managing data goes to be a key trait for all of us as we mature in age, and I really consider it can enrich and rework our lives. There’ll all the time be a darkish facet to issues, and sadly for a few of us, the elevated data could weigh us down, could give us incorrect sources of data, and information us within the fallacious course. Studying to handle ‘data-overload’ might be one thing all of us have to look at over the subsequent decade. I personally expertise this with the information channels – listening to the identical story each half-hour in the course of the day. However I consider that we are able to all use the off-switch in some unspecified time in the future! We truly do have that energy at our finger-tips!

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – You could have completed what few within the capital markets have been capable of do – take a Firm from the over-the-counter bulletin boards to NASDAQ. How did you accomplish this and what recommendation do you may have for different CEOs who want to accomplish this feat?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Once I took over as CEO of Lightwave Logic early in 2017, I used to be requested by shareholders at our Annual Shareholder Assembly in Denver, Colorado when Lightwave Logic will uplist to the NASDAQ from the OTC markets. My response was on the time, when we have now progressed our know-how platform to the purpose that we’re receiving respect from our stakeholders that what we have now with our electro-optic polymers has very excessive impression each on the web and society. I consider this respect occurred in 2021, and by September 1st, we uplisted organically (which means no reverse break up, no cash increase), which, to my understanding, could be very uncommon certainly. Solely 9 days later, we had been invited to ring the weekly closing bell on the NASDAQ in New York Metropolis. Each our President Jim Marcelli and I had been extraordinarily excited to do that collectively each for Lightwave and all of its shareholders.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – You could have an unbelievable wanting stability sheet, based on your quarterly report you’re flush with money with $24.3 million within the treasury, nearly debt free with simply $1.2 million in complete liabilities but your inventory has misplaced 75% in 2022, the market has been onerous on everybody however do you suppose they oversold Lightwave?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We’re a conservatively run firm. We watch our spending very fastidiously, and we have now detailed inside plans in how we develop our electro-optic polymer know-how into modulator gadgets in addition to licensing and know-how switch to key companions. My function as CEO of Lightwave Logic is to create shareholder worth via the development of our proprietary know-how platform, and that is my key focus. If that is carried out effectively, then the curiosity in our firm will develop with the information that we are able to positively change the standard of individuals’s lives over the subsequent decade or two. It’s merely wonderful.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – A number of years in the past, you moved to a brand new facility situated at 369 Inverness Parkway, Suite 350, in Englewood, Colorado that features your optical testing laboratory and company headquarters in addition to workplace, laboratory and analysis and growth house. The 13,420 sq. toes Englewood facility contains totally useful 1,000 sq. toes of sophistication 1,000 cleanroom, 500 sq. toes of sophistication 10,000 cleanroom, chemistry laboratories, and analytic laboratories and streamlines all the Firm’s analysis and growth workflow for better operational efficiencies. Do you suppose having your company headquarters and your laboratory and analysis and growth house in the identical new facility has helped transfer your corporation ahead?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Bringing collectively our chemistry and supplies services in Delaware with our fabrication and system services in Longmont, Colorado was key for us to realize a greater deal with on designing product for patrons. Having our chemists work side-by-side with our fabrication and system engineers permits everybody to raised perceive and comprehend buyer necessities by way of product specs, efficiency, high quality, and many others. Our present facility in Englewood, Colorado on the south a part of the Tech Middle, south of Denver, is a superb location not just for Lightwave Logic staff, however our guests and suppliers additionally. Colorado could be very supportive for corporations similar to us.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – You could have fortified LWLG mental property portfolio via publication of a U.S. patent software that aids to considerably improve polymer efficiency and simplify fabrication in foundry functions, in addition to the receipt of one other U.S. patent that simplifies modulator integration for high-volume manufacturing operations. The portfolio contains 59 granted patents that embrace 47 from the US, 1 from Canada, 5 from the EU, 2 from Japan and a pair of from China. Do anticipate to license or in any other case capitalize from these patents?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We’re happy with our patent portfolio, and this has allowed us to create a three-pronged enterprise mannequin that mixes promoting product, licensing our patents, and transferring our know-how know-how to massive scale semiconductor foundries. This enterprise mannequin additionally permits us a number of flexibility after we communicate to entities occupied with our electro-optic polymer platform.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – LWLG was buying and selling for over $20 in December. It’s now simply over $5. What has modified since then?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We’re completely centered on growing shareholder worth and bringing our know-how platform to full maturity. We’re excited with our unparalleled progress over the previous 12 months, and we proceed to attempt ahead to make our electro-optic polymer know-how platform ubiquitous within the market.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – There was an organized quick assault in your inventory together with a report issued by quick promoting agency Kerrisdale Capital about Lightwave Logic that comprises false and deceptive statements. Your inventory is at essential help stage simply over $5 per share and appears to be holding sturdy in a extremely taught market, it seems just like the quick assault left the inventory considerably oversold and is seeking to take again a few of its current loses. Do you consider they’ve coated their positions but?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We issued a press launch on June seventh that addressed our opinions on this difficulty. We’re conscious that when you’re a pre-revenue public firm on NASDAQ these kinds of issues could happen. One of the simplest ways to handle them is to deal with the job-at-hand: enhance shareholder worth, and progress our thrilling know-how platform to the subsequent maturity stage – and that is what we’re doing.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – Lightwave has achieved world-class outcomes for a polymer modulator, as demonstrated in an enhanced stability and high-speed measurement by Polariton Applied sciences and ETH Zurich. The Firm has achieved breakthrough photostability outcomes on its electro-optic polymer modulators which can be appropriate with high-volume silicon foundry processes. Just lately Lightwave introduced enhanced photostability outcomes on the corporate’s proprietary electro-optic polymer modulators – demonstrating the reliability essential for business deployments – all based mostly on a know-how which could be ported into high-volume silicon foundries and built-in onto a silicon photonics platform with different optical gadgets. Within the checks carried out, subjecting the corporate’s newest polymers to excessive depth optical energy for over 3000 hours produced no change in system efficiency. The power of Lightwave Logic’s proprietary polymers to cross this accelerated photostability growing older check gives assurance that they are going to each tolerate the optical exposures which happen in high-volume manufacturing and help the reliability over the required working lifetime of optical transceivers and community parts. Lightwave know-how is effectively positioned to turn out to be a key enabler for upgrading the pace of the web, in addition to reducing energy consumption, each of which are actually the Achilles Heel for web community architectures. How quickly do you consider the market might be prepared on your breakthrough know-how?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We create world-class polymers which can be utilized in modulator gadgets. We’ve given public steering of world class technical outcomes and efficiency over the previous 2-4 years. One of many issues that clients need to see is ‘third-party assessment’ – this implies having our polymers examined for efficiency in another person’s modulator. That is precisely what we did – we despatched materials to an organization in Europe, and it put our materials into its modulator gadgets, and the outcomes had been fairly beautiful. They achieved world-record efficiency and this was peer reviewed and offered at a global convention each in 2021 and once more with one other outcome early in 2022. Third-party assessment of your materials is a essential part in advancing the maturity of your know-how platform. Once more, this makes us very excited on the prospect of getting a huge effect on the web and optical networks that carry our net site visitors.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – Lightwave is a pacesetter in high-performance, high-stability electro-optic polymers that beat something at the moment available on the market. This know-how may disruptive huge industries similar to high-speed (vast bandwidth) telecommunication and information communications functions. Why is the inventory worth up to now behind?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: As soon as individuals understand the impression of the technological platform we have now, we anticipate to see important pleasure out there as our know-how turns into ubiquitous. Sure, I exploit this phrase ‘ubiquitous’ as our purpose is to have our electro-optic polymers in every single place similar to OLED polymers which can be used for shows and TVs in the present day.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – In addition to the telecommunication and information communications markets what different markets do you suppose high-performance, high-stability electro-optic polymers may disrupt.

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We’ve already famous in our market steering that our electro-optic polymers are anticipated to have a huge impact in various parallel market verticals similar to optical sensing, automotive (with LIDAR), projection/shows, medical to call a number of. Whereas we’re centered on fiber-optic communications for the web in the present day, these different markets additionally require optical gadgets that change gentle rapidly at low energy, and in small sizes. Typically having a know-how that’s small, quick, and low energy actually works!

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – The entire marketplace for opto-electronic parts used within the fiber optics market reached a worth of $26 billion and is forecasted to develop to roughly $80 billion by 2030. What Share of this market can Lightwave seize?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: Assuming our know-how turns into ubiquitous similar to OLED polymers, then we are able to assume that our market alternative is important. We’ve not offered steering on detailed market projections but, however it is rather thrilling because the markets not solely exist already however are rising rapidly, and are anticipated to proceed to develop rapidly over the subsequent decade.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – How is Lightwave Logic coping with inflation and the present points with provide chains?

Dr. Michael Lebby CEO of Lightwave Logic: We manufacture and produce our polymers utilizing domestically-sourced uncooked supplies in Denver, Colorado. Which means that we have now glorious safety of provide, and we don’t see a lot impression from the present inflation that the nation is coping with in our enterprise.

 

Boe Rimes / Microcapdaily – Thanks a lot Dr. Lebby for taking the time to do that interview with us and I wish to say on the behalf of Microcapdaily we’re all very enthusiastic about Lightwave Logic. The Firm has leading edge know-how that is able to disrupt huge markets and we’re excited to look at it occur. Based mostly in your filings and up to date press we predict LWLG is a critical purchase at present worth ranges. Thanks.