Dr Pragya Sharma is a structural biochemist turned entrepreneur on a mission to transform the lives of those with chronic skin conditions.
The inspiration for her business, which is called Granlab, came from watching her grandmother experience excruciating discomfort from psoriasis. This hard-to-treat autoimmune condition leads to itchy, scaly patches on the skin.
“My grandmother had tried every remedy available, to no avail,” Sharma says. “The harsh steroid medications she had been prescribed had affected her liver and contributed to type 2 diabetes and partial sight loss.
“Not surprisingly, she was desperate for an alternative solution. With my background in biochemistry, I set out to develop a new treatment that could help calm the fire within the skin for those with psoriasis and other debilitating long-term skin complaints such as eczema.”
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Sharma developed her initial formula in 2018 and three years later began refining it while pursuing a PhD in iron transport mechanisms within the body at Queen’s University Belfast. This work laid the foundation for what has become Granlab, a fully-fledged start-up employing five people. The company is a Queen’s University spin-in, with the university owning a minority stake in the business.
“Current psoriasis treatments face significant limitations,” Sharma says. “Topical corticosteroids can cause skin thinning and systemic side effects, leading many patients to discontinue use.
“Alternatives like immunosuppressants and phototherapy are effective but come with risks of organ toxicity or require frequent clinic visits, making them less accessible.”
Sharma aimed to hit two critical touchpoints. The first was to develop a product that was steroid-free yet still highly effective.
The second was to create a formulation that could be used to treat inverse psoriasis (which occurs in skin folds and creases) as well as other sensitive parts of the body, such as the lips, eyes and genitals. As of now, most products on the market are not cleared to treat these areas.
Granlab’s products are undergoing clinical trials, with market entry slated for 2026. The company’s proprietary GL-1 formulation, which is patent-pending, will be used to underpin a range of products not only for eczema and psoriasis but also for sensitive skin and ailments such as inflammation and flaky skin. The range will include a serum, lip balm, shampoo and bodywash.
As of yet, Sharma has not decided whether the company will go to market alone or partner with an international company in the hybrid skincare/pharmaceuticals space.
“We’ve already had a lot of interest in what we’re doing from outside Ireland, and I am happy to talk to people who share our vision and will help us scale,” she says.
“With nearly one billion people around the world suffering from chronic skin complaints, there is real potential for Granlab to go global. Our formulas have been developed for a wide range of skin types and colours.”
Sharma is originally from India but has lived in Northern Ireland for the past six years.
She comes from a family of academics. The exception is her father, who had a corporate career before becoming a financial adviser. She credits him with raising her to be financially literate. As a result, she has been unfazed by the challenges of raising money for her business.
To date, Granlab has secured about €900,000 in funding between support from private backers and Invest NI. A seven-figure seed round is planned for next year.
“I have attended many events about the stock market, mutual funds and making investments, so I understand how investment works, and talking about it comes naturally to me. I have investors who often help guide my investment decisions, along with occasional advice from my dad,” says Sharma.
One of the toughest aspects of managing her start-up, Sharma says, has been sifting through all the advice she’s been given and trying to sort the good from the bad.
“In the start-up ecosystem, there’s a view that if you want to succeed, then this is the template you must follow. But in my experience, the template does not fit every start-up,” she says.
“You’ve got to figure out your own steps and have the courage to say no at times and reject what you’re being told.
“However, finding the right way to say this has been one of the most challenging parts of the journey. With so many conflicting opinions out there, you have to trust your instinct and make informed decisions.”
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She argues that increasing access to late-stage funding for science-led start-ups would enable high-potential companies, such as hers, to scale globally without having to relocate.
“Being away from my family while working on my PhD was really difficult, but it made me very resilient and determined to focus on the good things. I’ve also watched how my father has always risen to every challenge,” says Sharma, who had to rise to a challenge of her own in order to build her knowledge about patents.
Sharma wanted to patent-protect her proprietary formulations, but she quickly discovered that using a professional patent attorney would be a costly exercise for a start-up. To work around the problem, she applied for a job with a law firm and worked in its patents department for more than a year, sitting several patent exams and learning exactly how the process works.
“To be honest, you have to be delusional to get involved in a start-up because every single day you are thrown so many new problems,” Sharma says. “But if you can ask yourself, ‘Am I happy doing this?’ and the short answer is ‘Yes’, then, while it’s hard, it’s also very rewarding.”
