Calvin Davies, president of Dermaglow
North of the City
September 08, 2008 09:19 AM
Woodbridge company leading the pack in anti-aging
By: Lee Ann Waterman
That Calvin Davies named his company VitalScience is telling.
It’s the science behind its dermaglow anti-aging and skin care products that he says makes them unique in the marketplace.
Mr. Davies, president of the Woodbridge-based business, launched VitalScience in 2000, determined to take a “scientific approach to skin care.”
“I felt there was a need for more clinically-driven skin care products in the marketplace,” he says.
It was a risky proposition – he left a 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry and invested personal funds to start the business.
He describes the early days – four people in a small office, sharing one telephone – as challenging. It’s not easy to find a foothold in an industry dominated by large multi-national corporations.
VitalScience found moderate early success with a cellulite cream. But it was the introduction of the Nuvectin advanced wrinkle therapy in 2005 that really propelled its dermaglow brand into the cosmeceutical spotlight.
“It captured the imagination of the retailers and it captured the imagination of the public,” says Mr. Davies. “We went from a $100,000 company to a multi-million-dollar company overnight.”
Again, it is the science that sets the product apart: Nuvectin contains peptides, which VitalScience bills as “the most significant anti-aging discovery of the decade.”
Peptides, simply speaking, are chains of amino acids that occur naturally in the skin, giving it elasticity and firmness. As we age, their production slows, but a product containing peptides can boost the natural peptides and the skin’s youthful appearance.
Nuvectin advanced wrinkle therapy was a runaway success. It topped the retail analyst ACNielsen’s ranking for skin care products for an unprecedented two-and-a-half-year run, doubling the sales of its nearest competitor.
Not content to rest on its laurels, VitalScience has produced 45 new products in the last four years – expanding its Nuvectin line and adding other lines for women with sensitive or acne-prone skin and other products such as microdermabrasion treatment and foot cream.
They are available in 1,300 stores across Canada and in 15 other countries, including Paris’s Galeries Lafayette, “the most prestigious department store in the world.”
That the company has remained small – the staff totals 60 employees, including 24 sales representatives – has facilitated its fast pace, says Mr. Davies.
Four or five key players make the major directive decisions, and meetings happen in one of their offices or even a corridor, rather than a boardroom. As well, all of the clinical research and 95 per cent of the manufacturing is done in Canada.
“I really wanted to be hands on in terms of research, in terms of manufacturing.
The size of the company allows us to do that,” says Mr. Davies, who lives in Schomberg.
“You’ve got to be focussed. You’ve to be fast. You’ve got to be able to identify opportunities and then really put all your weight behind them in terms of making them a success.”
With its latest line, dermaDNA, VitalScience is addressing another component of aging – UV damage.
The product began with work by Thunder Bay-based biotechnology firm Genesis Genomics Inc. that shows the links among long-term UV exposure, DNA damage, skin cancer risk and premature aging through the tracking of a genetic biomarker.
It sounds complicated and it is; this is cutting edge research.
“Being able to test a patient’s current level of skin damage at a molecular level for the first time is a compelling argument to get patients to finally use sun protection, treat their skin and to practice safe sun habits,” says dermatologist Dr. Charles Lynde, who is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Toronto and consultant for University Health Network and Markham-Stouffville Hospital, in a press release.
The test, however, is simple. The customer takes swabs from the bridge of her nose and inner cheek. Laboratory analysis of the former reveals the extent of DNA damage the skin has already suffered; tests on the latter show, on a genetic level, how susceptible her skin is to UV damage and cancer.
Based on the results, two products – a cellular repair and a sun protection – from the dermaDNA line are recommended.
“We’re empowering women with information to take better care of their skin and prevent further damage,” explains product specialist Bill Tomes.
Information that – in keeping with the company’s philosophy – has its roots in science.
Cellular DNA Assessment Test, $160; dermaDNA Advanced Cellular Repair, 30 mL, $120; dermaDNA Cellular Repair, 30 mL, $100; dermaSPF (SPF 15, SPF 30 or SPF 54), 50 mL, $50; available at drugstores, including Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharma Plus.