Billionaire John Paul DiJoria of Paul Mitchell Professional Hair Care Products and Patron Tequila fame is putting his money where his mouth is --- literally.

DeJoria is now investing “heavily” in a new natural and sustainably produced over-the-counter (OTC) cold sore treatment called Aubío, and the cold sore indication may just be the tip of the iceberg for this product, with acne up next.

Fully 3.7 billion people across the globe – that’s two out of every three people -- have the cold sore virus, he said at an exclusive media launch for Aubío. “This is very exciting as I have never had the opportunity to come out with something that addresses 2/3 of the world’s population,” he says of his first foray into healthcare.

While the product's active ingredients are listed as lidocaine and allantoin, the real magic stems from the extract of a carnivorous plant known as sarracenia, which has been used for thousands of years by Native Americans. Exactly how it works to stop cold sore viruses is not fully understood, explains Lawrence A. Rhiens, PhD, executive director of research and development at Aubío Life Sciences in Boca Raton, FL. “What we were able to show with basic research is that the sarracenia extract prevents reproduction of the herpes simplex virus in the cell.”

Aubío is available now at Target, CVS and Rite Aid and on Amazon.com and Aubío.com.  The gel retails for $29.99 and the companion lip balm costs $10. The product is also being distributed for free at shelters for women who were rescued from prostitution and human slavery. Parent company Aubío Life Sciences is now trying to partner with big pharma to conduct clinical studies for other indications.

“Ninety three percent of people in the cold sore studies said it worked right away. That’s unheard of,” DeJoria says. “You put it on when you feel a tingle and if the cold sore even comes out, it will be gone within two days.”

There are no side effects and it is OK to use in children, Rhiens adds.

Anecdotal evidence suggests it also works on pimples, hemorrhoids and other skin conditions as well as cold sores. Studies on acne are now underway.  “We believe it can be used for a lot of common skin care conditions and that we can build a family of products around this,” DeJoria says.

It was mere happenstance that DeJoria stumbled upon Aubío. A friend of a friend told him about the product in casual conversation. “I told my assistant that if anybody has a cold sore, fever blister or shingles, just give it to them and see if it works,” he recalls.

She did and it did.

“We found that it worked. I got my samples back and I gave it to people with cold sores and it worked on everyone. I said ‘wow we have something here.’”

From there, the decision to go OTC was an easy one, DeJoria says. “It was so effective. I wanted less of a margin and more of a result.”