Start-up founded by Queen's graduate to open new lab in Belfast

Belfast Telegraph

20-05-2025

Granlab will work from the Medical Biology Centre on the Lisburn Road and is already filing patents for products.
Dr Pragya Sharma, who was one of the Belfast Telegraph's 30 Under 30 in 2023, now leads a team including formulation scientists, and is recruiting a clinical trial manager.
The firm is planning to add more specialist roles as it seeks to complete clinical trials and acquire regulatory approval for its products, ahead of a planned entry into the market in 2026.
Dr Sharma started her business seeking to find a better treatment for her grandmother who had psoriasis.
While still studying, she began to look for a more effective treatment for her grandmother's symptoms.
Dr Sharma was able to create a new product to treat the condition: 'The formulation I developed includes bio-minerals and rare Earth metals that can synergistically enhance the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties demonstrated by the formula's bioactive compounds.
'It is steroid-free and can be used on the most sensitive parts of the body. After three months of using the treatment, my grandmother's skin was symptom-free. It was like magic, only better — it was science.'
Dr Sharma went on to publish her research in scientific journals, and tests of her formulation, known as GL-1l, have been done on 300 patients around the world in four trials.
As well as opening laboratory facilities at the MBC in Belfast, she has also announced the appointment of a formulation scientist and a clinical trial manager.
The start-up has secured £600,000 in initial funding and achieved milestones including gaining support from The MedTech Accelerator Rapid Regulatory Support Fund (MARRS) for regulatory affairs development, receiving additional funding from Innovate UK to accelerate further growth, and securing project funding from Invest NI.
Investment has come from pre-seed investor Michael Donnelly.
Granlab is now targeting additional investment to accelerate its journey to market and is in the process of filing patents.
And Dr Sharma also has plans to grow Granlab's team throughout 2025 with additional specialist roles as it gears up to complete comprehensive clinical trials, securing necessary regulatory approvals, and perfecting product formulations before planned market entry in 2026.