Prof & Doc: Commercialising watercress extract for skin care

After years researching the beneficial biochemical effects of watercress in reducing human skin irritation ( initially funded by the Torbay Medical Research Fund), in 2019,  Professor Paul Winyard and Dr Kyle Stewart co-founded a spin-out company, Watercress Research Limited, with a view to commercialising a novel watercress extract for human skin care. 

This year they have launched their first four skin care products under the brand name “Prof & Doc”, including a barrier cream for problem skin.

( Above: Professor Paul Winyard and Dr Kyle Stewart)

Dr Kyle Stewart reports that their research into watercress began a decade ago, while working as a junior doctor at Torbay Hospital:

“After I saw a child who was septic from infected nappy rash during a stint as a junior doctor at Torbay Hospital, I started to investigate what causes nappy rash. It turns out that there is an enzyme called urease – produced by certain bacteria on the skin – that makes ammonia. Ammonia is caustic, causing a chemical skin burn. It also turns out that some plants contain high levels of urease inhibitors, and watercress is one of the best-known plant sources of urease inhibitors. Then we had to figure out how to get these inhibitory compounds out of the watercress in an active and stable form, a process which we patented through the University of Exeter.”

Their watercress venture has raised over £0.75M of investment and they’ve successfully upscaled the laboratory process, which makes a watercress extract, to industry-scale within their own production unit.

At the beginning of 2024, with a lot of TV and media interest, they launched a range of four “Prof & Doc” formulations, for general skin care use, sold from their web site. Sales have been strong and achieved business-to-business sales through pharmacy chains and distribution agreements. The company already has significant revenues within five years of its founding.

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