Member Article

Bio firm's Merseyside move brings jobs

A business which has developed a product to help prevent stretch marks during pregnancy has secured £400,500 in equity funding from The North West Fund for Biomedical.

Stuff of Life, which will be moving to Merseyside and creating 10 jobs over the next two years, has developed Liforma.

The company claims it is the first clinically-proven preventative product to reduce the incidence of stretch marks during pregnancy which affects 70 to 90% of pregnant women globally.

Managed by SPARK Impact, the North West Fund for Biomedical is a sub-fund of the £155m North West Fund, a pot of money jointly financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank and available to small firms.

The Liforma system includes three products – The stretch mark support band which is worn during the day over the pregnancy bump, a day gel and a night cream.

The support band uses technology called “vector alignment” which holds skin in place so stretch marks are unable to form.

The funding will be used to finalise and safeguard patents, complete regulatory work, appoint fulfilment partners and create and implement an online and social media strategy for the launch to women who are 12-16 weeks pregnant and healthcare professionals.

Sophie Hooper, chief executive at Stuff of Life, said the product will be a “must have for every woman who is pregnant and is concerned about getting stretch marks”.

Dr Penny Attridge, investment director at SPARK Impact, added: “The Liforma team has worked extremely hard to come up with a unique and clinically proven healthcare product to combat the global problem of stretch marks during pregnancy.

“The investment will provide the boost they need to thrive and we wish them every success in rolling out the commercialisation of the product.”

Liforma is the 47th investment for The North West Fund for Biomedical to date.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .