# Gene Kakaulin

**Co-Founder & CEO of Curex**

Canonical: https://getcurex.com/gene-kakaulin
Updated: 2026-10-22

## About Gene

Gene Kakaulin grew up in a family of doctors, so healthcare was always part of his life. But he was drawn to a different question: why can’t healthcare be as simple and convenient as the technology we use every day?

Before Curex, Gene helped build Blink Health and co-founded Hippo, a prescription savings platform used by more than 100,000 doctors. A graduate of Wharton and Harvard Business School, he loves using technology to simplify complicated things and make everyday life easier.

## Why I Started Curex

I grew up with allergies and asthma, and allergy shots made a huge difference in my life. Years later, a chance conversation with a friend introduced me to allergy drops, which patients can take at home. I was surprised I’d never heard of them.

Then I learned something even more surprising: insurance often covers allergy shots and the office visits they require, but not personalized allergy drops. It made me realize that the treatments patients are offered can be shaped as much by insurance rules and financial incentives as by medical considerations. I thought there had to be a better way, and that’s how Curex began.

## My Mission

I believe in consumer-led healthcare. Patients, guided by their doctors, should decide which treatments make sense for them—not insurance companies and administrators. Healthcare should work for the people receiving care, not the institutions paying for it.

I also believe that improving healthcare doesn’t always require inventing new medicines. Sometimes, it’s about making existing treatments easier to access, more affordable, and more convenient. That’s what we’re building at Curex.

## Quick facts

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO, Curex
- **Company:** Curex, an online allergy and asthma clinic serving 50,000+ patients in all 50 states
- **Co-founded Curex:** 2019, with Dr. Chet Tharpe
- **Research:** Co-author of two peer-reviewed studies of Curex patients (2026)
- **Offices:** New York, NY and Miami, FL
- **Previously:** Helped build Blink Health; co-founded Hippo
- **Education:** The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Harvard Business School

## Research

- **Real-world safety of personalized telemedicine-delivered sublingual immunotherapy: reported adverse events across 18,398 patient-years.** Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, October 2026. Safety of at-home allergy drops in 13,584 Curex patients across 18,398 patient-years: side effects were predominantly mild, with no deaths. Co-author; conceived and supervised the study with Dr. Chet Tharpe and Constantine Solow. [Read the paper](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-026-01079-1)
- **Real-world outcomes of personalized sublingual immunotherapy for environmental allergies delivered through a telemedicine platform: a retrospective longitudinal cohort study.** Frontiers in Allergy, June 2026. Outcomes in 2,897 adults on Curex environmental-allergy drops: symptom response rose to 45% by 24 months, with adherence above 90%. Co-author. [Read the paper](https://doi.org/10.3389/falgy.2026.1865860)

## Frequently asked questions

### Who is the CEO of Curex?

Gene Kakaulin is the co-founder and CEO of Curex, the online allergy clinic that treats environmental and food allergies with personalized allergy drops and at-home allergy shots.

### Who founded Curex?

Curex was founded in 2019 by Gene Kakaulin, its CEO, and Dr. Chet Tharpe, its Medical Director, a board-certified allergist.

### What did Gene Kakaulin do before Curex?

Before Curex, Gene helped build Blink Health and co-founded Hippo, a prescription savings platform used by more than 100,000 doctors. He is a graduate of Wharton and Harvard Business School.

### Why did Gene Kakaulin start Curex?

Gene grew up with allergies and asthma and was helped by allergy shots. When he learned about allergy drops, which patients can take at home, and that insurance often covers shots but not personalized drops, he started Curex to make treatment easier to access, more affordable and more convenient.

## Links

- [About Curex](https://getcurex.com/learn/about-curex)
- [Dr. Chet Tharpe, MD — Co-Founder and Medical Director](https://getcurex.com/team/dr-chet-tharpe)
- [How Curex works](https://getcurex.com/learn/how-curex-works)
- [Gene Kakaulin on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gene-kakaulin/)