Research areas

Three programmes, one method. Each began with a mechanism that was reasonably well described in the literature and badly served by what was on the shelf.

Intimate health and the vaginal microbiome

Programme: Safe & Sure

The problem. Urinary and intimate infections are among the most common reasons Indian women seek care, and among the most likely to recur. Recurrence is widely treated as a hygiene failure, which the evidence does not support, and is widely managed with repeat empirical antibiotics, which carries its own cost: community-level resistance data from India shows substantial resistance to the antibiotics most often prescribed.

The mechanism we are working on. The vaginal environment maintains itself through a resident microbial community, and lactic acid production appears to be a conserved function across the community types found in healthy women. Conventional washes are designed to clean a surface. We have been working on whether a cosmetic wash can instead be designed to remain on the mucosal surface and carry prebiotic substrates that support that community rather than disrupting it.

Where it stands. Formulation development is complete through several prototype generations, with earlier candidates retired on technical grounds. Patent applications are filed and pending. Independent consumer-use testing has been undertaken. A narrative review series on recurrent urinary tract infection in Indian women is in preparation.

What we are not claiming. Safe & Sure is a cosmetic. It is not a treatment for infection, and nothing in this programme should be read as a therapeutic claim.

Psychological stress and the skin

Programme: HempNation

The problem. The connection between chronic psychological stress and skin deterioration is well attested clinically and poorly served commercially. Most products addressing it treat the visible result.

The mechanism we are working on. Stress reaches the skin through identifiable signalling pathways, including TRPV1, the NRF2 antioxidant response and NF-κB inflammatory signalling. Cannabidiol has documented activity at several of these. The research question is whether a topical formulation can be designed around that activity in a way that is both meaningful and lawful to describe.

Where it stands. Active research. [Programme status to be supplied.]

Dermatological access

Programme: AI Skin Scanner

The problem. India has a severe shortage of dermatologists relative to need, concentrated in cities. For most people, a skin problem means either a long wait, a long journey, or a guess.

What we are building. An assessment tool that extends dermatological guidance beyond the clinic. It is designed to help someone understand what they are looking at and whether it warrants a doctor. It does not diagnose, and it is not a substitute for clinical assessment.

Where it stands. In development. [Programme status to be supplied.]

Collaborate with us

We work with academic and government research institutions on questions better answered through formal study than through in-house work.

Research enquiries: get in touch.