What started out as genetic engineering research on replacing skin has turned into an online business selling skin rejuvenation cosmetics.
A few years ago, Burt Ensley, a microbiologist, developed Elastotropin, a synthetic protein that mimics the skin's elastic properties. It can also be used to help regenerate wounded skin and reduce wrinkles—and may even be used someday to possibly help military doctors regenerate the lost limbs of wounded soldiers in battlefield settings.
After working at several different biotechnology companies over the past 20 years, in 2004 Ensley hooked up with his partner, New York City attorney Lorenzo De Luca. The duo founded DermaPlus Inc. to market DermaLastyl, a genetically-engineered synthetic form of the protein elastin that gives skin its natural elasticity and can help reduce wrinkles.
Armed with about $500,000 in venture capital, the pair looked into getting retail distribution for the product, which proved too difficult. They were also turned off by an advertising agency that said it would establish a "brand" for the product, something Ensley and De Luca saw as too expensive and unnecessary.
"We went to an advertising agency that wanted to give us a 'brand' for $250,000," he says "But we had been doing that ourselves all along."
They opted instead to go the e-commerce route and opened a Web site, http://www.dermalastyl.com.
The site is promoted through search engine optimization, direct response ads in magazines like Vogue and via public relations, says Ensley. The latter has worked especially well—every time a TV station or newspaper has done a story on the company, there has been a spike in orders.
Last year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency got wind of Ensley's work and invited him to Washington, DC to talk about his formula and what use it might have for the military.
"We gave the [agency] preliminary data but when they put out requests for proposals, the big guys came in and got the contracts," he says.
Right now, the company markets two products: wrinkle cream and eye serum that purports to not only protect skin but also to guard against cancer.
Ensley hopes DermaPlus will clear $1 million in revenue this year but says he won't be bent out of shape if he doesn't.
And further down the road?
"There are 400 small guys trying to come up with new skin care stuff a year," he says. "And they usually get bought up by the majors like Revlon or L'Oreal when they reach $10 million revenue mark. The small guys do the research and development for the big companies."
